To embrace the extraordinary
by Millie 1985
Summary: Leanne Barton has never been what you would class as normal. She is very good at pretending she is an ordinary girl but she's not and with her big brother in danger it is time for her to stop hiding. The time has come for her to embrace the extraordinary
1. Chapter 1

**To embrace the extraordinary**

**Summary:** Leanne Barton has never been what you would class as normal. She is very good at pretending she is an ordinary girl but she's not and with her big brother in danger it is time for her to stop hiding. The time has come for her to embrace the extraordinary

**An:** I know I have lots of stories on the go at the moment, the truth is I have too many and starting yet another one is probably a bad idea but I have a plan to deal with that. This post will be my last for a good few weeks. I have so many ideas fighting for attention in my brain that none of them will ever get finished unless allot then each some time so that is what I am going to do. Thanks for listening to me ramble on, see you in a few weeks (months?) and I hope you like the chapter

**Prologue**

"Barton's been compromised" that one phrase had been racing though Natasha's head for the last few hours. As soon as Coulson had spoken those words the Black Widows world had shifted, suddenly the mission that had once seemed so important didn't matter to her anymore. She needed to get out of there and fast Clint needed her.

Looking back she was shocked to find that the fight in which she took out her captors was such a blur to her that she couldn't be 100% sure she had left them all alive but she hoped she had, she really didn't want any more red in her ledger that absolutely necessary.

She was in such a hurry to meet the S.H.I.E.L.D jet waiting for her that she knew she hadn't been as watchful as she should have been but if there was ever a good excuse for her being careless Clint being in danger was it

It was only once she was in the air that the former Russian was able to truly focus on anything other than just getting where she needed to be. The spy knew she should try to sleep between Russia and India, if Clint where with her he would have insisted that she at least try but she also knew that if their roles were reversed sleep would elude him too.

As soon as Natasha's eye lids slipped shut a face flashed before her but it was not the face of Clint Barton. It was a girl with fair skin and dark blonde curls; she stared almost pleadingly at Natasha with serious gray eyes and the assassin's own eyes flew open. The red head cursed herself in every language she knew, how she could have forgotten.

If Clint had been in her place he would never have forgotten her family (not that she had any family for him to forget but that was beside the point) she had been so blinded by her own worry for Clint it had not even occurred to her how the situation would affect others that cared for him

It only took moments for her to contact the handler she and Clint shared.

"Clint has next of kin that need protecting" she announced before the man even had a chance to greet her

"I am aware of the girl's existence, I did oversee the writing of Barton's will" he reminded her firmly

"She could be in danger" Natasha persisted still kicking herself for not thinking about the young woman sooner

"Fury has a team handling it" Coulson reassured her

"Do they know exactly what they are handling?" Natasha shot back

"She is a 22 year old student not an escaped criminal I think they can manage" if the situation wasn't so serious Phil Coulson would have laughed

"She is a Barton" the stubborn woman on the other end of the phone insisted and Phil finally lost patience with her

"Focus on your own mission Agent Romanoff and let the extraction team carry out theirs" he ordered "I assure you Miss Barton will be bought in safely , you just worry about the big guy" he added more softly before hanging up on her.

Natasha found herself just staring at the disconnected phone and for the first time in years she actually felt afraid. she was scared for herself having to face a potentially unstoppable monster, for her partner who had become the puppet of possibly insane god with daddy issues and for the young woman back in new York who was about to learn her big brother was not as infallible as she had always hoped he was.

_Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think_

_Millie_


	2. Chapter 2

**To embrace the extraordinary**

**Summary:** Leanne Barton has never been what you would class as normal. She is very good at pretending she is an ordinary girl but she's not and with her big brother in danger it is time for her to stop hiding. The time has come for her to embrace the extraordinary

**Disclaimer: **I forgot this last time but I don't own anything that you recognise. The idea is the only thing that's mine.

**AN:** Here is chapter 1 and chapter 2 is all ready to go so it should be up in the next few days. I warn you this first is a bit slow moving but I hope you if it enjoyable

**Chapter 1**

So many people say that being normal is boring or over rated. Even more people wish there was something special about them that would make them stand out from everyone else but Leanne Barton wasn't one of them.

All Leanne really wanted was to be normal and the truth was she never had been, not even as a child. She was an orphan who along with her brother had been raised by a fortune teller and had grown up all over the world while the circus travelled.

If her childhood could be considered a little odd then her adult life could only be classified as downright strange. Her big brother, the sweetest guy she ever knew somehow became an assassin he then got himself caught and had ended up working for some government agency that was so secret that most people didn't even know it existed. S.H.I.E.L.D is what Clint called it; a pain in the backside was Leanne's name for it.

Due to S.H.I.E.L.D being all super secret Leanne never really knew where her brother was or when she would see him next. She knew the agency wasn't all bad they were the ones that had gotten her out of the circus and into a good collage (even thought her education was far from formal) but she just hated having so little contact with her brother.

Despite her dislike of Clint's job and all of the secrecy that came with it Leanne had to admit that the life she was currently living courtesy of S.H.I.E.L.D was the closest to normal she had ever been. There were a few things from her time in the circus that she would always carry with her, things that meant she would never truly be normal but she had gotten very good at pretending.

Leanne had to admit that for the first time in years she felt both happy and safe she had normal friends, a set routine and a home that wasn't designed to move from place to place. She should have known it was all too good to last.

Things had been going really well for Leanne Barton lately she had met some really nice people that she could socialize with and not worry about them teasing her because of her past she was also passing both of her courses. The ex circus performer was even looking forward to her fast approaching birthday. Birthdays had never really been particularly nice experiences for Leanne so she tended to forget about them for the most part but she was beginning to think this year might be different.

When the morning of her 22nd birthday actually dawned it was bright and sunny it also fell on a Saturday, Leanne didn't think she could ask for much more than that. She quickly dressed in her favourite sundress and leggings before racing into the main room of her small apartment to check her voice mails.

There was only one message on the machine but it was the only one she really wanted. Every year dead on midnight Clint would call her to wish her happy birthday it was one of the few times she knew she would hear from him.

Clint never said much in his birthday messages, she assumed he didn't have much time but he would always sing happy birthday to her down the line. Leanne loved to hear her brother's voice spilling out of the tiny message machine; she would close her eyes and pretend he was right there with her instead of off wherever he was

"Happy Birthday deirfiú" he sighed off as he always did. Deirfiú was Gaelic for sister and it was what Clint had called her ever since Zion their guardian at the circus had taught it to him.

Zion had been just as strange as everyone else in Leanne's early life but she loved both of the Barton children dearly. She was the one that had insisted on keeping them when a bedraggled 13 year old Clint had turned up at their camp with a wailing 3 year old Leanne on his back. Everyone else had wanted to send the two children back to where ever they had come from but Zion would not allow it especially when Clint explained his reasons for running away with his little sister.

Because she was so young and sweet she was being put up for adoption while he –with his trust issues and refusal to engage socially with others- had no choice but to stay in the care system. Zion had told Clint that from that moment on she was their mother and she was not going to let anyone split them up.

Zion real name was Isadora Malone, her mother was Spanish while her father was Irish. Her parents had believed it was important that she understood both sides of her heritage so as a young girl she had learnt to speak both Spanish and Gaelic along with English. She also learnt the history of both countries and the role her ancestors had played in it.

Zion had tried to pass her heritage along to both of her adopted children but it hadn't quite worked out. Leanne loved to learn all about the history but struggled with the language while Clint seemed to have a knack for learning languages but no patience for history.

Soon Clint could speak the language of every performer in the circus as if it were his own but Leanne took much longer and her grasp was much more basic. Eventually she became as fluent in Spanish as Clint was and could at least hold simple conversations with the other performers in their mother tongue but she never quite mastered Gaelic the way he did. It was actually Clint's favourite language because it wasn't spoken as widely as most other languages.

When Leanne was young he decided it would be their secret language so if they ever needed to tell each other something but didn't want other people to know what they were talking about they would use Gaelic. Clint's insistence that they needed to have a safe way to communicate was the only reason Leanne could really speak any of it at all because she had been about to give up when Clint came up with the idea. Now Clint would always drop a word or two of Gaelic into their conversations or any letters that he sent to her, it was his way of keeping their connection alive and reminding her just how important she was to him.

Hearing Clint call her deirfiú always made her want to laugh and cry at the same time. Normally after listening to a message from Clint Leanne would make herself a warm cup of tea and try to sort out exactly how his call had made her feel but today she didn't have time for that. She slipped on her trainers, threw on a jacket and grabbed her bicycle helmet before rushing out the door to meet her friends, they were all going out to celebrate her birthday and she was very grateful for the distraction from the sudden realization she had had while listening to Clint's voice. Most days she somehow managed to forget just how much she missed her older brother but on her birthdays she never could.

Leanne met her friends at central park, as cliché as it sounded they tended to spend quite a lot of time there because it was beautiful and cheep. As she cycled thought the gates her phone went off telling her that she was the last of the four to arrive and if she didn't hurry up they were going to eat her birthday cake without her.

Leanne found her three friends in their usually meeting spot, they were all sprawled out on a picnic blanket that didn't surprise her what did was that they hadn't been joking about the cake, they really had gotten her one. There in the middle of the red and white checked blanket with a picture of a big top painted on it was the first birthday cake she had had in years

"Happy birthday" they all chorused as she pulled her bike to a stop next to them

"Oh you guy's you didn't need to do this" Leanne smiled as she flopped down between two girls who were wearing huge sunglasses

"It's just a cake" laughed Lucy a pretty brunet with lots of freckles

"What is the point of working at a bakery if I can't get cut price cakes?"added Dominic the only boy of the group

"Well it still means a lot to me, thanks guys" Leanne told them honestly

"Wow, were getting thanked already, we haven't even given you your gifts yet" said Amber doing her best to smile without showing the braces she still had to wear much to her disgust.

"Gifts?" Leanne gasped "you got me gifts?"

"Yeah that's kind of how birthdays work, you get a year older and we buy the presents" Dominic said rolling his eyes at her

"But you guys can't afford to be buying presents" Leanne protested

"There nothing big, so don't get excited" Amber warned her as each of her friends produced a small wrapped gift from either their bag or pocket

Amber hadn't been kidding when she said that her gifts weren't big but Leanne really didn't care. She knew none of her friends were well off, they were each holding down a part time job to help them get though school and none of them had their own apartment the way she did because none of them where getting a free ride from a secret government agency like she was. So the fact that they had gotten her anything at all was really touching.

Lucy and Amber had obviously worked together on their gifts because the earrings Amber bought her were a perfect match for the necklace from Lucy, it was clear neither of them were expensive but they were both very pretty and the kind of thing that Leanne would wear. Dominic had gotten her a cheap plastic Frisbee and while most girls would be offended Leanne couldn't help but laugh. The gift was so Dominic and it would be a great way to pass their time in the park not to mention Dominic had already admitted to providing her birthday cake. Her three friends had also clubbed together to get her a pair of black leather driving gloves, something that they all insisted she needed if she was going to ride her rickety old bike around a busy city

The four friends spent the next few hours chilling in the park. They divided their time equally between playing Frisbee and sun bathing only breaking their routine to eat hot dogs from a nearby vendor for lunch. I was a peaceful way to spend the day, the only real drama came when Dominic and Lucy got into a disagreement while playing a last game of Frisbee over just who could jump the highest.

Amber and Leanne sat and watched in amusement as the two young adults argued like little kids.

"You are going to put a stop to this right?" Amber finally whispered to the birthday girl

Leanne just smirked and got to her feet which made Amber clap her hands in excitement she loved it whenever her friend busted out her old moves. Leanne took a deep breath and backed up so she could take a proper run up before hand springing clear over her arguing friend heads

"I think that's settles that, don't you think?" she asked them with a slightly condescending smile as she stood up from the crouch she had landed in and brushed off her hands. Both Lucy and Dominic could do nothing but stare at her and nod while Amber giggled on the floor

The sun had begun to sink low in the sky when the youths decided it was probably time for them to start making their way home. They were just gathering up their things when an older woman in flowing skirts wandered by trying to sell lucky heather and offering to tell people fortunes.

"Hey I read somewhere peoples mystic energies are at the strongest on and around their birthday" Lucy commented

"So?" asked Leanne looking confused

"So you should let her read your palm or something" Lucy suggested pointing toward the woman

"Please that woman couldn't read my future if it was on a bill board let alone in my palm" Leanne said rolling her eyes

"Let me guess, growing up in the circus taught you that all fortune tellers are con artists and are not to be trusted" commented Dominic looking up from folding the blanket they had spent the day laying on

"No it just taught me to spot a fake from a mile away and she is one" Leanne hissed glaring in the woman's direction something about fakers always made her heckles rise

"You believe in fortune tellers?" Amber asked sounding surprised

"My mother was one" she told them off handily "A real one, the sight had been passed though her family from mother to daughter for centuries" she explained to her flabbergasted friends, she had forgotten that she had never really told them about Zion until now.

"What did she do?" asked Lucy without any hint of mockery "I mean did she read palms or use a crystal ball or something?" she clarified

"She could see and manipulate auras" Leanne said with a soft smile "she could change how someone felt just by using her mind to rearrange something in their aura. She could make a person feel better or worse depending on what they deserved. You have no idea how many cheating spouses left Z's tent determined to tell their partner the truth and beg for their forgiveness" she laughed

"That's cool but it's not really like she saw the future" Dominic pointed out sounding like he didn't believe a word out of his friend's mouth. She wasn't surprised he was the scientist of the group

"No it's not" Leanne agreed "but she could do that too" she told them "honestly I'm not sure how it worked, she never gave me details but what she did tell me was that a person's aura could be used as a gateway to their soul and souls always know where they're going, if you want to know too you just need to ask them in the right way"

The girl's looked impressed while Dominic still didn't seem sure

"Does she still do it? Could she read us some time?"asked Amber excitedly

"She passed away a few years ago" Leanne told them sadly

An awkward silence settled around them but it didn't last long because an interesting idea occurred to Lucy "does that mean you can do it now?" she asked Leanne "read peoples aura's I mean, you did say it went mother to daughter" she continued completely ignoring the drop it looks both Amber and Dominic were shooting her

"I'm not Z's biological daughter she adopted me remember" Leanne reminded her friend softly

The friends worked in complete silence after that and soon all evidence of their enjoyable day had been cleared away and they were all ready to go their separate ways. They parted at the gates with hugs, smiles and promises to see each other soon. Leanne had just pulled on her new gloves and was about to mount her bike when a firm grip and tug on her shoulder had her spinning to face someone, it was the fake fortune teller with the heather from the park.

"Why do you hide from what you are" the woman steered at her

"I don't know what you mean" Leanne told her trying to pull out of the woman's grasp but she was stronger than she looked and Leanne wasn't getting anywhere

"Your gift the, sight, why do you fight it?" the woman demanded

"I really don't know what you mean" Leanne insisted "now let me go"

"Do not lie to me" she ordered fiercely "I see it hanging in the air around you, an ignored gift waiting to be accepted. The sight will not be denied child it is stronger that all of us, you will give into it eventually and when that happens you will become a servant of destiny just like the rest of us" she practically spat

Leanne finally pulled free of the woman that she was now sure was bordering on crazy, she hopped onto her bike and pedalled away as quickly as she could but she was not quick enough to miss the woman's parting shot

"It can be a gift or a curse child, the choice is yours" she bellowed after the rapidly departing girl. Leanne glanced back at her and couldn't help wondering if maybe she had been wrong earlier perhaps the crazy heather lady was as real a fortune teller as Zion had been.

AN2: I got the Gaelic off of the internet. I did try asking my Grandparents but all they can remember are old songs and sware words so I had to fall back on Google

_Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think_

_Millie_


	3. Chapter 3

**To embrace the extraordinary**

**Summary:** Leanne Barton has never been what you would class as normal. She is very good at pretending she is an ordinary girl but she's not and with her big brother in danger it is time for her to stop hiding. The time has come for her to embrace the extraordinary

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own anything that you recognise. The idea is the only thing that's mine.

**AN: **here comes chapter 2, so much for me taking a break from posting hey. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

**Chapter 2**

Thoughts of both Zion and the woman from the park filled Leanne's head as she raced through the streets of New York; she just desperately wanted to get home, she needed a hot shower and her bed sadly she didn't get either of those things.

She had only just shut and locked the door of her apartment behind her when someone began pounding on the other side of it. For a moment Leanne considered ignoring it and hoping that whoever was there would go away but then a voice joined the pounding.

"Miss Barton you need to open this door right now" a strong male voice demanded

Leanne was still staring at the door when another voice spoke, a much softer and definitely female voice. "Miss Barton, this concerns your brother we really need to speak with you" the woman told her.

Leanne didn't hesitate to unlock the door not for one moment even though she knew she should, she could hear Clint's voice in her head telling her to calm down and play it cool just like he had taught her but she just couldn't obey. The door was wide open in a second and the two people on the other side didn't wait for her to invite them in, they just strode into the room like they owned it.

"Miss Barton, I'm Agent Pips" the woman introduced herself using the same soft tone as before "and this is Agent Wright" she said indicating to her partner, they both took a moment to flash their ID at her.

"We have some bad news I'm afraid, it concerns your brother, you might want to sit down" Agent Pips told her.

Leanne had every intention of doing just that because she could feel herself starting to freak out and right now sitting down seemed like a really good idea but Clint's voice in her head just wouldn't shut up, it kept reciting the survival rules that he had drilled into her a few years back.

"_**Don't sit down whatever you do, if you sit down you are at a disadvantage so stay on your feet and make sure you always have a clear line of sight to the window"**_He had ordered her firmly, she had failed to follow his first rule about always keeping a locked door between herself and anyone she wasn't sure that she could trust so she was going to be sure to follow all of the others

"I'd rather stand thank you Agent Pips" she said politely as she discreetly took a couple of steps closer to the window that was always left open just a crack even in the dead of winter when there was snow on the sill outside.

The agent didn't look happy but she continued anyway "Miss Barton I regret to inform you that Agent Barton has been compromised" Pips voice was as soft as ever but there was no real regret in it at all

"Compromised, what does that mean?" Leanne asked in shock, she had been expecting Clint to have been injured at worst, she didn't even know what compromised meant, at least she didn't think she did, not in the context that the agents where using it.

"Are you trying to tell me he's defected or something" she finally stammered, even as the Clint in her head told he she had to hold it together

The two agents shared a look before Pips stepped forward to explain "I Know this is a lot to take in Miss Barton and you don't want to believe it but at this moment in time your brother is for all intents and purposes, an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D and the United States of America, he is also a danger to you which is why you need to come with us" she said gently reaching out to the younger woman

Leanne suddenly wished that she had sat down. "No, I'm not going anywhere with you because your wrong" she protested vehemently taking a step away from Pips attempt at consolation "Clint could never betray anyone like that, he doesn't have it in him and he would never never hurt me" she spat at them

"We have proof Miss Barton" Agent Wright snapped at her obviously having much less patience for hysterical girls than his partner. He produced a tablet computer from the brief case he carried and handed it to her.

There was a picture already up on the screen. Clint was in it as well as some other men but the main focus of the photo seemed to be the man they surrounded. He was tall and slim with straggly black hair and he was holding a dangerous looking cane.

"That man is Loki and he is a global threat and your brother helped him to escape from one of our facilities earlier today" Wight told her bluntly

Leanne couldn't remember the last time she had had such difficulty comprehending what someone was saying to her. She could both hear and understand Wight's words but she just couldn't believe them.

"No" was all she could gasp out because they were wrong they had to be

"I'm sorry Miss Barton but it's true" Pips whispered moving to stand in front Leanne yet again attempting to provide some comfort, though she was continuing to play her role as the good cop she was also blocking Leanne's exit should she make a run for it. The very small part of Leanne that wasn't having a total melt down wanted to roll its eyes at just how obvious the woman's moves were

"You need more proof?" Wright sneered cruelly. He moving in behind her to pressing the play bottom in the corner of the screen, effectively boxing the young woman in between the two agents, Leanne knew that she should be concerned that they were trying so hard to trap her but the scene playing out on the computer in her hands had her full attention

There was no sound on the film that Leanne assumed had been taken from a security camera but she didn't need sound to understand what was happening. The man that Wright had identified as Loki turned and said something to Clint who reacted by drawing a gun and shooting the only man in the room that stood between them and the exit, the large man fell instantly. Loki and the others marched past him without so much as a glance in his direction, Clint stopped just long enough to take a large metal case from him before striding off after the others. That was the last thing shown before the screen went black

Leanne felt like all of the air had been sucked right out of her as she stared at the blank screen in horror, she had never seen Clint like that. She had always loved to watch him train with his bow and arrows so she had seen him hit countless targets and she had intellectually understood that as an assassin he must have killed people but she had never dreamed she would have to watch him shoot at anything that was actually alive instead of an inanimate object

To most people the video would have been irrefutable proof of what the agents had been trying to tell her but not to Leanne. She knew Clint better than she knew herself and she couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right. Regardless of what she had just seen she still couldn't believe what they were saying about Clint because something was very wrong with the whole situation

"What aren't you telling me?" she asked softly as she felt a familiar calm take root within her, it was the way she use to feel right before she entered the big top to perform and it swallowed up all of the fear and distress that had previously been ruling her.

The two agents shared a quick glance before Pips took the lead once again "Like I said Miss Barton we understand that you don't want to believe any of this but it is all true, you have the proof right there in your hands. Your brother is a very dangerous man and the only way for us to ensure your safety right now is for you come with us" she said gently

Leanne had hoped that one of them would say something that would feel right to her but Pips little speech really hadn't helped anything at all and the most important of all Clint's rules was ringing in her ears

"_**You have good instincts so if something feels wrong then it probably is. If that happens you get yourself out; you run and don't look back. You get clear and you contact me, we'll take it from there together"**_

Leanne chanced a quick glace behind her, she made it seem like she was looking at Wright but she was really looking over his shoulder to check the hook by the window, registering that her back pack, that Clint had insisted should hold everything she needed to go at anytime, was in place. She took a deep breath and tried to remember her brother's advice on just how she was meant to get away from trained agents

"_**They're going to underestimate you" **_his voice in her head reassured her _**"You take advantage of that, you attack fast and you evacuate faster" **_he ordered

Leanne took a deep breath, she really didn't want to do this, these agents were from S.H.I.E.L.D and they were the good guys but Clint's orders had kept her safe and alive thus far so she wasn't about to start ignoring them now. She felt particularly bad about Pips who seemed genuine in her concern.

"I'm sorry" Leanne murmured with her head down

"You don't have anything to be sorry for" Agent Pips said reassuringly moving still closer.

"Actually I do" the young woman said allowing her inner calm and resolve fill her voice

"I'm sorry for this" she said using a swift upward thrust to slam the heel of her hand in to Pips nose.

The female agent doubled up and clutched her nose in pain, Leanne listened for the distinctive crack that would tell her she had broken the other woman's nose, she was thankful that it never came but Agent Pips nose was bleeding heavily and that made Leanne feel awful but she knew she couldn't stop now

As she spun to face Wight she found him reaching into his jacket for what she assumed was his gun. Luckily for Leanne she was quicker than the muscular man and she had swung his own computer at his head before he could draw his weapon. The forceful impact shattered the tablets screen and floored Wight, it was clear he wouldn't be down for long but luckily Leanne didn't need long to stage her get away. She jumped over the downed man, slung her go bag over her shoulder, threw up the window sash and hopped out onto the fire escape.

Outside the sun had set and the temperature had begun to drop rapidly, the wind whistled around her and Leanne was very glad she had not taken her jacket off before the agents arrived. As she stepped up to the aging ladder, attached to wrought iron balcony she found she was even more grateful that she was still wearing the gloves her friends had given her. She loosely gripped the vertical poles of the ladder, resting her feet on the outside edge; she let her own body weight carry her downward.

It was an old trick that she and Clint had learnt as kids in the circus and it was by far the quickest way Leanne knew to descend a ladder. It had not been easy to learn and the Barton siblings had suffered the bumps and scrapes to prove it but they both agreed that the adrenalin rush was worth it in the end. Despite the dire situation, Leanne could almost hear a teenage version of her brother whooping for joy as she travelled towards the ground faster than any elevator ever could

When she landed Leanne glanced back up to where she had come from and as she had expected Wright was on his feet and glaring after her. She couldn't resist tossing him a smile and a mock salute before she took off tearing out of the alley. She still felt badly about Pips, but him, she wouldn't have minded hitting harder!

Once she was out on the main street she paused for just a moment to decide which of the many escape plans that Clint had drilled into her would be best to follow. It took her longer than it probably should have but she finally settled on one. Instead of running away as would have been expected, she simply ran to the other side of her building and scaled the first available fire escape.

She had to admit when Clint had first suggested that she escape from her apartment only to then hide on the roof of her building she had thought it was pretty stupid but now it seemed like the last place Wright would think to look for her.

Getting to the top of the old apartment block was not as easy as getting to the bottom and it took longer too but she eventually made it. Leanne crouched down behind the low safety wall that ran all around the roof ensuring not even the top of her head was visible from the ground. For a few minutes she just sat, remaining still and quite while she caught her breath, when she was sure no one knew where she was the young woman began to root through her go bag in search of the emergency phone, stashed in it.

The phone was a sleek silver little thing and there were only three numbers in it, she had been told time and again she was never to use it unless she was in a situation like this.

The first number on the speed dial was her emergency contact; it was a direct line to Clint. Leanne pushed the call button and waited for it to connect but it never did, no matter how many times she tried, the result was the same, she just got dead air. Every failed call upped Leanne's anxiety level and soon the film the two agents had shown to her was playing on a loop in her head severing the tentative grasp she had on her rapidly departing calm.

The next number she tried was the one Clint had classified as her emergency emergency contact and was only to be used if for some reason she couldn't reach him. It was another direct line but this one went to his partner, Natasha Romanoff. She was a beautiful but deadly Russian who Leanne had met a handful of times when Clint had been badly hurt. Natasha would turn up in the dead of night and all but kidnap Leanne from her bed so that she could be there when her brother came around. She seemed nice, well as nice as a scary assassin/spy could be, the red head would always attempt to be reassuring when they travelled together, she didn't necessarily do a good job but she tried.

Leanne really began to freak out when she got dead air at the end of Natasha's line too, she tried it multiple times and just like with Clint's phone every attempt made her feel worse. She knew it was probably silly for her to expect to have two super secret agents at her beck and call but she really wished one of them had thought to have an answering service on their phone that way at least they would know she was looking for them

Stars where beginning to appear in the sky and it was getting much colder on the roof, Leanne didn't know how long she had been up there but she had begun to tremble in the cool evening air. Her outfit was perfect for hanging out with friends at the park it was not exactly ideal for hiding out on a roof all night.

She did have one more number in the phone she could try but she was a bit reluctant to use it. Clint had promised her that the man that number belonged to was trustworthy but he was also tended to be a pain in the butt and he would not be happy to hear from her. She didn't particularly want to make the call but she didn't see any other choice and she had already done a few things she didn't want to do in the last couple of hours

As resistant to making the call as she was, Leanne couldn't deny the flood of relief she felt when the phone actually rang but it only lasted as long as it took her to realise she could hear it ringing in stereo. The panic that had subsided slightly came rushing back as she scanned the roof with desperate eyes, searching for the source of the ringing. Seconds later the roof access door swung open to reveal a man with a ringing phone in his hand

"I think you and I need to talk, don't you Miss Barton?" he asked disconnecting his phone and fixing Leanne with a firm look. The dumfounded girl could do nothing but nod as he advanced on her

"You're him" Leanne gasped "The guy from the video" she was trying to back away from the man who was now looming over her but the wall at her back made it impossible

"Yes I am" He said with a wry smile "I'm also Nick Fury Director of S.H.I.E.L.D" he introduced himself, apparently he didn't feel the need to flash his ID the way the others had

"Clint shot you" the young woman stated "You should be-" she trailed off unable to finish her sentence

"Dead" Fury supplied for her

"I was going to say hospitalized but yours works too" Leanne admitted fearfully with a nod of her head "What is going on, why did Clint try to kill you if you're his Director" she asked unable to hide her confusion

Director Fury's reaction to her question surprised her almost as much as him turning up in the first place. He laughed. He laughed so hard that he was forced to sit down on the wall that Leanne had been using for cover

"Miss Barton your brother is the best marks man in the world, did you know that?" he asked once his laughter had subsided.

Leanne just shook her head, she had known that Clint was very good she had never seen him miss but she had always assumed she was just being biased

"If he had wanted me dead then I would be" he told her frankly

"Then I really don't understand, will you please explain to me what the heck is going here" she demanded feeling completely lost

"You saw the film; does Loki look local to you?" Fury asked fixing her with a hard stare that even with just one eye was unnervingly penetrating

"Are you trying to tell me he's some kind of alien?" she asked genuinely surprised by his suggestion

"Actually he prefers the term god" he stated; Leanne knew she should be finding this all harder to believe but unlike the agents down stairs every word that had come out of Fury's mouth felt right. "You get a look at his staff?" The Director enquired

"Yeah, it was kind of hard to miss" Leanne sighed even with everything else that happened in the screen Loki's wicked looking cane (or at least what she had thought was a cane) had caught her eye.

"That thing gives him the power to control the human mind" Fury explained softly.

As director of S.H.I.E.L.D Nick Fury had given out more than his fair share of bad news and he had never been accused being gentle about it or sugar coating things but the girl that was sat at his feet had been teetering on the edge of hysteria when he had arrived and he got the feeling he should tread carefully with her. She had already attacked and evaded two very capable agents before she knew just how bad her brother's situation was, he wasn't sure how she would react when she knew the full story and he would hate to have to knock Hawkeye's little sister out. It took longer that he had expected for the penny to drop but he knew the moment that it did

"He's got Clint" she gasped her hands flying up to cover her mouth. Leanne wasn't sure if it was down to the shock of what Fury had just told her or the fact that someone was finally being honest with her but her head suddenly cleared. She couldn't stop herself from trembling with rage but her fear and panic had both faded way into the back of her mind.

"A god from out of space has control of my brother's mind and your agents tell me he has been compromised!" she yelled at the agency director "it sounds more like he's been kidnapped to me" she growled.

Fury fought to hide his smile at her reaction, he would take angry and functional over sobbing and useless any day.

"Miss Barton we need to move" Fury told her sternly, standing up and pulling Leanne to her feet.

_Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think_

_Millie_


	4. Chapter 4

**To embrace the extraordinary**

**Summary:** Leanne Barton has never been what you would class as normal. She is very good at pretending she is an ordinary girl but she's not and with her big brother in danger it is time for her to stop hiding. The time has come for her to embrace the extraordinary

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own anything that you recognise. The idea is the only thing that's mine.

**AN: **Hay guys, I would like to thank everyone who has favoured, followed and reviewed this story it means a lot to me. Here is the next chapter I hope you like it.

**Chapter 3**

Leanne had seen people do a lot of impressive things in her life, things that a normal person would consider impossible but she had yet to meet anyone quite like Nick Fury. The man stood in the middle of her roof and hailed a chopper with more ease than she could a cab.

A helicopter was one of the few vehicles that Leanne hadn't travelled in before and she was surprised to discover the interior was more spacious than she would have imagined.

"Where exactly are you taking me?" she asked the director as she strapped herself in

"Somewhere safe" he told her completely ignoring his own seat belt

"I hope you don't expect me to hide out in the middle of nowhere until this is all over because that's really not going to happen" Leanne stated firmly.

Fury didn't bother to hide his smile he didn't doubt that she could escape from any S.H.I.E.L.D safe house he tried to confine her to. Barton being the slightly paranoid, over protective and over prepared ass that he was, would have made sure she had the skills to do so. He didn't think that the girl realized just how well her brother had taught her and he wasn't going to be the one to enlighten her.

Leanne watched out of the window as they flew appreciating the New York sky line in a way she never had before, it was both beautiful and awe inspiring even the newly erected Stark tower couldn't change that.

Soon the chopper began to descend heading towards a huge building just off time square that seemed to be made mostly of glass. There was a helipad on the roof but for one illogical moment Leanne wondered if all that glass was going to hold the huge crafts weight. As they touched down safely she couldn't help but breathe a small sigh of relief and Fury's deep chuckle told her that he knew exactly what she had been thinking.

There was one question Leanne hadn't asked Fury because she was scared of what his answer might be. As the helicopter descended she realized she was about to lose her chance, she reached out and grasped his hand "You are going to get Clint back aren't you Director Fury?" she asked him pleadingly

"That's the plan Miss Barton, that's the plan" He replied before getting out and helping her down.

Leanne followed Fury but she was moving on auto pilot still reeling from the blow he had just unintentionally dealt her. To most people his answer would have been encouraging but Leanne wasn't most people. Fury was smart enough to know that lying wouldn't fly well with her so he had gone out of his way not to. He had chosen his words very carefully to ensure he didn't have to lie, it was a tactic she knew well because she used it herself.

What Fury's statement told her was that Clint was an asset that S.H.I.E.L.D wanted back but his return was not a priority to them. Well he was the very top priority to her and she had no intention of letting Fury or S.H.I.E.L.D forget that.

She did her best stick close to Fury as he led the way thought the intricately twisted corridors of the large building they had just entered. While from the outside it may have passed as a simple office block, inside it was a very different story. The place was clinically organized and Leanne could practically smell military coming off every underling that scurried out of Fury's way. The director marched along at such a pace that at times Leanne had to jog just to keep him in sight.

The S.H.I.E.L.D building was such a maze that soon one passageway seemed meld into another twisting right or curving left, bland white corridor after bland white corridor. The only thing the usually hyper aware girl knew for sure was that they were moving steadily downward and she only knew that due to the amount of stairs they had taken.

The long descent finally ended when they reached the basement of the building, which was as different from the rest of it as you could possibly get. When Leanne opened the door clearly marked gym she expected to find any number of ultra modern work out machines not a dog eared boxing ring and a wall of punching bags. She felt like she had stepped back in time.

A lone figure with muscles to spare stood in the middle of the room pounding a punch bag as if it were the root of all evil. Leanne liked to think of herself as quite brave but she couldn't help jumping when the boxer hit his bag so hard that it snapped the chain that it hung from and flew clear across the room

"Stay here" Fury ordered pointing at the doorway they had just come through; Leanne just nodded and watched as the director stalked his way over to the seriously focused young man. Fury interrupted his work out by enquiring about his sleep

Leanne didn't hear his response or any of the conversation that followed but she could see enough to know that he was not exactly pleased to see Fury and he really didn't like what the director was telling him either. When Fury was finally done talking, the younger man turned to leave but he wasn't going alone, he hoisted one of the old style punch bags onto his shoulder.

To say that the man's effortless show of strength shocked Leanne was an understatement, She was so stunned in fact that she realised too late, that he hadn't seen her and found it impossible to get out of his way before the man mountain collided with her.

In truth, he barely touched her, it was a glancing blow at worst but the guy was like a walking brick wall and even the slightest contact was enough to send Leanne tumbling towards the ground.

Years of gymnastics had taught Leanne that tensing up was the worst way to deal with a fall but she couldn't help bracing herself for her impending impact with the floor, thankfully it never came. Apparently the blond boxer was as fast as he was strong. In the time it had taken Leanne to close her eyes he had dropped the punch bag and wrapped both of his large hands around her waist.

"I'm sorry ma'am" he apologized quickly "Are you all right?" he asked with genuine concern filling his warm blue eyes

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks" she mumbled feeling completely embarrassed as he set her back on her feet

"Captain this is Miss Leanne Barton, Miss Barton Captain Steve Rogers" Fury introduced, coming up behind them "Miss Barton is Agent Barton's sister, I don't think you have met him yet" the director told the captain

"No I haven't" captain Rogers agreed "But I hear he's a good man" he said giving Leanne a bright smile and offering her his hand

"He's the best" she smiled back at him as they shook hands

"Then I'm pleased to meet you Miss Barton and I look forward to meeting your brother as well" he said releasing her hand

"Thank you captain, it's nice to meet you too" Leanne said honestly

"If you decide to take up our offer you will be sharing a ride with Miss Barton at 07:00 hours tomorrow morning" Fury said, he was speaking to the captain but it was Leanne that reacted

"Tomorrow?" She asked him

"Yes tomorrow" Fury repeated sounding exasperated despite his calm appearance "Until then you are to stay here and stay out of trouble" he told her firmly. Leanne opened her mouth to protest but Fury was having none of it "This is not a debate Barton" he snapped at her "You are staying here until I say you can leave, are we clear?" he demanded. For a moment the girl just stared at him in silent defiance and Fury could almost believe he was actually talking to the older more deadly of the Barton siblings but she finally conceded (something he had never known her brother to do). She gave him a small nod and cast her eyes down to the floor excepting that he was in charge and that his orders were to be followed, at least for now

Captain Rogers cleared his throat awkwardly in an effort to remind them that he was there the whole scene had made him feel uncomfortable.

While Fury had been laying the law down to Leanne he had re-shouldered his discarded bag, he was ready to get back to his apartment up on the top floor and the information packet that awaited him there. His decision was made, that whatever crazy plan Fury had cooked up, he was in. That cube was too dangerous for him not to be but he also knew that he couldn't just walk away and leave the girl with an obviously unhappy Fury, the man was intimidating at the best of times.

Steve hadn't told Miss Barton her brother was a good man just to be nice, it was the truth. Even though he had never met him Steve had heard enough about Clint Barton to know what kind of man he was. Clint was not only good he was also smart and loyal; he was a man that Steve could see himself being friends with back in the days when he actually had friends instead of fans.

Clint Barton didn't seem to be the type of man to allow his sister's safety to depend on anyone else –not ever Nick Fury- unless he had no other option. If Leanne Barton's life was in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D then something had to be very wrong and Steve had every intention of watching her back until he knew she was once again safe with her brother.

"I can escort Miss Barton to the guest quarters sir" he told director Fury politely

"That won't be necessary Captain" Fury shot back without looking away from Miss Barton. Seconds later a small dark haired agent strode through the door behind them. Steve didn't know her name but he had seen her around the base often enough, he was sure that she hadn't been sporting that black eye the last time he had seen her. "Agent Pips will be Miss Barton's escort for the remainder of her time here" Fury told them firmly

"If you follow me Miss Barton I will give you a brief tour and show you to your quarters" Pips smiled tightly at the younger woman. The agents tone was polite and her words formal but the look she was giving the girl was anything but friendly. Miss Barton shot one last defiant glare at Fury before following Pips from the room.

As Pips silently led the way through the halls of the S.H.I.E.L.D base she was radiating anger and while Leanne really couldn't blame her it didn't make the whole situation any less awkward for her. She felt bad enough about what she had done back at her apartment without Pips giving her the silent treatment.

"Look, Agent Pips, I'm sorry about your nose" Leanne called out running after the female agent trying to make amends "I didn't mean to hit you so hard" she said indicating to the woman's black eye.

Pips just rolled her eyes at Leanne and strode on ahead, she only paused for a moment here or there to tell the younger woman what a particular room was used for or to remind her that she didn't have the clearance to go into it. Any questions that Leanne had, were answered with as few words as possible and soon the two had arrived at the room that Leanne had been allotted for the night.

The room was large and comfortable, with both a lounge and a bedroom area; it had even been decorated stylishly. It was not what Leanne had expected to find in a top secret government base "Wow, this is pretty amazing" she breathed moving to the centre of the room to take a better look.

"The room is usually used for visiting dignitaries or politicians and was always your intended destination, Pips told her without emotion, "If you had cooperated in the first place you would have gotten dinner as part of the deal but your little display delayed you arrival and now the kitchens are closed, sorry" she said coldly not sounding sorry at all and slamming the door behind her

Leanne breathed a deep sigh and dropped down onto the soft, over stuffed sofa that S.H.I.E.L.D had provided her with. She allowed herself a few moments of quiet contemplation before she retrieved her go bag, opened it up and set it down on the low coffee table in front of her.

The first thing she pulled out was a bundle of clothing that she had actually forgotten was in there. She had a stretchy pair of grey jeans, a plain black vest and a big blue zip up sweater. It was not a particularly flattering outfit but it was both comfortable and practical; Leanne got the feeling that she was going to be glad of that. She laid the clothes out ready for the next day and went back to her bag.

The next items she recovered were a first aid kit and a small supply of snacks. The snacks where what she had actually been looking for because as soon as Pips had mentioned that she had missed dinner Leanne had realized she was in fact very hungry. Unfortunately the snacks were of no use to her because she foolishly hadn't replenished them as often as she should have and they were now out of date. Sighing dejectedly Leanne threw them into the nearest bin before returning to the bag that was now almost empty

The last object in the bag was the only thing in the whole pack that was in there at Leanne's insistence instead of Clint's. It seemed to be just a normal black belt. It was a little too wide to be considered fashionable perhaps but it was otherwise unremarkable, until Leanne unhooked a few discreetly placed buttons and the top half of it folded down to reveal a set of small but wickedly sharp throwing daggers.

These blades where Leanne's most protected secret, Clint didn't know that she still kept them and her friends didn't know that she had ever had them. They believed she had spent her years under the big top as a gymnast, and sometimes acted as Z's assistant but that wasn't the whole story, She was not the sweet little flower child that everyone believed her to be, she had the potential to be deadly just like her brother but where Clint shot arrows she threw knives.

Leanne had only ever used her skills for entertainment and she knew she lacked the killer instinct that Clint needed in his line of work but she also knew that if she ever had to defend herself using her daggers she could. It was with defence in mind that she set about cleaning and sharpening the knives that had not seen the light of day since she had left the circus. The young woman had forgotten how absorbing she found the routine of maintaining her weapons, almost two hours had passed by the time she was satisfied with her work

Christopher, the elderly gentleman that originally taught Leanne how to throw swore that it was just like riding a bike once you knew how you never forgot; she hoped he was right

In the bedroom she noticed there was a wardrobe made of good think wood, it would make a perfect target. Leanne selected her favourite knife it had a small straight blade that was no more than three inches long, she tossed it gently from hand to hand checking that the balance was still even.

Taking a deep breath Leanne chose a section of the wardrobe door, took a firm stance, aimed and let the dagger fly. The knife imbedded it's self firmly in the wood of the door but not quite where she intending to, She had expected that, what she had not expected was searing pain that engulfed her right forearm the moment she released the dagger.

Leanne slowly began to remove her jacket, all the while wishing she had thought to do it earlier. She had to peel it gingerly down her right arm. Once the jacket was gone Leanne was shocked to find a long wide graze covering most of her forearm, It looked awful and there was a lot of blood but she knew it must look worse that it was otherwise she surely would have noticed it sooner.

Thinking over the events of the last few hours Leanne vaguely remembered a stinging pain racing across the skin of her arm as she hauled herself up onto the roof of her building. She wanted to kick herself for not realizing what that meant and treating the wound back then. Now she not only had to disinfect and wrap her arm she also had to make sure she got rid of any and all of the fibres from her coat that had gotten into it.

Leanne had just opened up her first aid kit and settled on the bed to deal with her arm when there was a loud knock on her door, she thought about ignoring it and pretending to be asleep but she didn't trust whoever was on the other side not to come in anyway. She took the time to pull her dagger from the wardrobe and hide it under one of the pillows along with her the belt before marching over to answer the door. She was surprised to find Captain Rogers on the other side but not as surprised as he was to see her bleeding it seemed.

"Miss Barton what happened?" He asked her as she stepped back to allow him in. He placed the tray he was carrying, on the nearest available surface and gently took her arm in his hands so that he could examine it.

"It's nothing Captain" Leanne lied trying to reassure him "I scraped it earlier, I didn't even notice till now"

"It doesn't look like nothing" the man said firmly never taking his eyes off her injury "Do you have a med kit?" he asked

"Yes on the bed" she said pointing towards the still open kit with her good arm, she moved to go and fetch it but the captain stopped her

"Sit down" he said giving her a push toward the sofa "I'll get it" he told her before going to retrieve the first aid kit from where she had left it.

Leanne enjoyed watching the young captain work on her arm (even if it did hurt a little) she had never seen anyone focus so intently on a simple graze, not even a doctor. He was careful and efficient, she got the feeling that he was trying very hard not to hurt her and that fact made her smile despite the day she had had.

"Have you had medical training Captain Rogers?" she enquired as he covered the now clean wound with some sterile gauze, she couldn't believe he was already done

"No ma'am, just lot's of practice" he replied with a smile that told her there was a story there "I got beat up a lot as a kid so over the years I got good at patching myself up" he volunteered the information without her having to ask

"Must have been some brave kid's to take you on" she commented giving his bulging muscles a meaningful look

Steve smiled down at the young woman who even when they were both sitting was dwarfed by him. He liked her, something about her made him want to smile and not many people had been able to do that since he had woken up from his 70 year nap. For a moment he was tempted to tell her his story, he wanted to see how she would react to the news that he was technically old enough to be her grandfather but then he remember the details he had read in the dossier from Fury. The poor kid had to be out of her mind with worry for her brother but you would never guess, she hid it very well. The last thing she needed was for him to give her more to think about, besides she would know the truth soon enough so he just laughed her comment off with a bright smile

"Actually I was kind of an easy target as a kid" he chuckled at how big of an understatement that was

An awkward silence began to fill the air and Steve took that as his queue to leave but he had some things to give her before he left. "I got you something to eat Agent Pips mentioned you might be hungry" he said a little self consciously as he went to retrieve the tray he had bought with him

Agent Pips hadn't actually mentioned it to him. It was more like she and one of her friends had been gloating over the fact that Barton's bratty little sister was going to have to go hungry because the kitchens closed before she arrived and he had overheard them. It was not really the way he wanted to learn the pretty agents name but at least he would never forget her, it also meant he now knew to steer clear of her.

"But I thought the kitchens were closed for the night" she queried as he placed the tray in front of her

"They are" Steve admitted "but I have a kitchen in my quarters so-" he trailed off not really sure how to finish his sentence

"You cooked for me?" she asked sounding astonished as she looked down at the steaming bowl

"It's only stew" Steve told her feeling his cheeks begin to flush "But it's better than nothing" he assured her

She smiled warmly up at him it was the most genuine smile he had seen from her yet "Thank you Captain, I really appreciate it"

"I also bought you this" he said lifting a brown file from the tray and handing it to her

"What is it?" she asked as she took the file from his hand.

"It's my debriefing packet, I thought given the circumstances you have more right than anyone else to know what's going on" he explained

"Are you allowed to show this to me?" Leanne asked him. She knew from Clint just how strict S.H.I.E.L.D was with their intel and as much as she wanted to know what was happening she didn't want Captain Rogers getting on the wrong side of Fury for helping her.

He dismissed her concerns, "It's mine, I can give it to who I like" Steve told her. This wouldn't be the first time he disobeyed orders to do what he thought was best and he couldn't help but think that Agent Barton would approve of his actions.

"Thank you Captain Rogers, that's very good of you" Leanne whispered it didn't seem like enough but she wasn't sure what else she could say.

"Goodnight Miss Barton" the captain said making his way to the door

"Leanne" she corrected him as she got to her feet to go and see him out

"I beg your pardon ma'am?" he queried from the doorway

"My name is Leanne Captain" she told him warmly "And after everything you have done for me I think you should use it" she explained

"Well then if you're Leanne I guess that makes me Steve" he countered with a grin

"Goodnight Steve" Leanne said with a smile

"Goodnight Leanne" Steve repeated before walking out the door. Leanne smiled after him for a moment before returning to her food and reading. It was not easy to keep her cool when the part of her that wanted to freak out over Clint kept getting bigger and bigger by the moment. Steve had a calming effect on her, having him around seemed to make it easier for her to breathe

She cast a longing look over at the plush bed she had been given before she settled herself back on the sofa. She would eat first then she would read, the file Steve had given her was as thick as some of her favourite novels and she would need sustenance to get through it. If at any point she actually made it into that comfortable bed it would be an added bonus. She hoped Steve's stew tasted as good as it smelt because she knew was in for a long night

_Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think_

_Millie_


	5. Chapter 5

**To embrace the extraordinary**

**Summary:** Leanne Barton has never been what you would class as normal. She is very good at pretending she is an ordinary girl but she's not and with her big brother in danger it is time for her to stop hiding. The time has come for her to embrace the extraordinary

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own anything that you recognise. The idea is the only thing that's mine.

**AN:** Hi guys, thanks for all the great feedback on the last chapter I hope you like this one.

**Chapter 4**

Leanne never did get to sleep that night, she snuggled up in her dream bed but sleep wouldn't come. Ploughing her way through the file that Steve had given her didn't take as long as she had expected but it certainly had given her a lot to think about, too much for her to even consider sleeping.

The dossier out lined the very farfetched situation at hand and Director Fury's plan to hopefully save the world from permanent invasion and, or destruction. The file made for interesting reading. If it wasn't really happening Leanne was sure it would make a great book or even a Hollywood blockbuster.

Loki the god of mischief and trickery (a being that Leanne had always believed to be nothing more than an old Norse myth) had come to earth determined to claim it for his own and to rule over the human race forever more.

To archive his goal he had stolen a powerful cube known as the Tesseract that, contained enough raw energy to destroy multiple worlds, he had also collected a few mind controlled followers along the way, including a deadly assassin and tactician (Clint) and a world renowned astrophysicist (by the name of Erik Selvig).

The only thing standing between earth and total subjugation was S.H.I.E.L.D (a government agency that, as far as the outside world was concerned didn't exist) and a rag tag band of hero's that were thrown together to act as a response team.

Leanne would have read that book over and over again until the pages fell apart or she would have queued for hours to get into to the first midnight showing of the movie but it was not a story she wanted to see played out in the real world, no matter how much faith Fury had in his response team.

The dossier contained a photo and information on each of the possible participants, they were all outstanding in their fields and if they could pull together she was sure they would be unstoppable but Leanne wasn't sure that would ever happen. They were all very different and some of them had egos too big to fit into a team. She wouldn't want to be the person responsible for holding them together

Leanne had the feeling that the job would probably fall to Natasha Romanoff, deadly assassin, spy, S.H.I.E.L.D agent and her brother's trusted partner. There was not much in Natasha's profile but that made sense to Leanne considering she was a secret agent. All the file contained was a photo of the beautiful red head and a list of of her skills but this alone covered nearly 3 of the dossier's pages, there was no doubt that Natasha was a force to be reckoned with

The ego had landed in the form of Tony - Iron Man - Stark. His profile didn't contain anything that she didn't already know; he did live his life in the limelight after all. There was no question that Iron Man could be a great asset to any team but Leanne didn't think that Tony Stark would ever willingly be part of a team and she was sure he would not be happy to follow orders

The next profile came as a surprise to her, Dr. Bruce Banner. He was a brilliant man and the scientist Leanne's friend, Dominic most admired, which is why she knew so much about him. He had somehow survived a terrible accident with only minor cuts and bruises but shortly afterwards he had vanished from public life all together. According to S.H.I.E.L.D's information his injuries were not the only outcome of the accident; he also gained a big green alter ego known as the Hulk.

The Hulk was uncontrollable and dangerous despite Banner's best efforts, so the only possible option he'd had was to remove himself from the picture. He had spent the last few years hiding out in far off places where he could do good and the Hulk couldn't do too much damage. The file clearly stated that it was Banner that Fury wanted not the Hulk, Leanne hoped that was true for the doctor's sake as much as everyone else's

The last member of the response team actually surprised her even more than Banner had because it was someone that she had believed to be purely fictional, Captain America.

Leanne was studying world history so she knew all about the Captain; at least she knew what the propaganda films and leaflets said about him. He was the supposed to be the ultimate patriot but she had always assumed he was some pretty boy actor in a suit. Turns out he wasn't, he was a real person. Not only was he real he was someone that Leanne had met, Captain Steve Rogers.

Kind, cute, sweet, I'm going to take care of you whether you like it or not Steve, was Captain America. Part of Leanne felt she should have known there was more to Steve than met the eye, something about him had seemed too good to be true. She read and reread his profile over and over again, what had happened to him was heartbreaking. She couldn't help but feel she should be mad at him for not telling her himself but logically she knew she that was not her right and she was just too emotionally drained to dredge up any negative feeling towards him.

As she surveyed the profiles of the four contrasting Hero's Leanne could hear Clint's laughter in her head _**"Poor Nat, these guys are going to be a bigger danger to each other than anyone else".**_

The dossier also held a huge wad of scientific papers, most were by Dr Selvig but some came from a Dr Jane Foster. Leanne read through all of them very carefully picking out whatever relevant information she could, by the time she was finished she had a basic understanding of Foster's work (thank you Dominic) but Slevig's was another story entirely, she was lost halfway down the first page.

The debriefing packet was not exactly Leanne's normal bed time reading and no matter how often she told herself that she should forget it and go to sleep she just couldn't turn her brain off. In the end she spent the night staring at the ceiling and glancing at the clock on the wall. By 04:00 Leanne just couldn't take it any more so she got up, changed into her fresh set of clothes and spent sometime practicing with her daggers. Each throw got closer and closer to her intended target and soon she found she was as confident in her skills as she had ever been.

At 06:30 sharp there was a knock on the door but Leanne had been ready to go for half an hour, her go bag was packed and ready to go. She had considered strapping one of her smaller blades to her ankle but she thought better of it, she was lucky that no one had searched her bag and found her dagger belt yet. She really didn't want to push her luck so the belt was once again hidden in the bottom of her back pack along with Steve's debriefing packet.

Agent Pips was waiting for her on the other side of the door, looking just as dour as she had the night before. As childish as it was, Leanne was unable to resist winding up the other woman.

"Hello, Agent Pips How are you this morning?" she enquired with a bright grin.

Pips rolled her eyes and marched off "If you follow me Miss Barton your transport is waiting" she called back over her shoulder

"I guess there's no time for breakfast before we takeoff" Leanne commented as she jogged to catch up with Pips, she was determined to be so bright and cheerful that she might as well be tap dancing on the woman's very last nerve. Clint would probably say it was her way of coping in a stressful situation, Leanne just though it was a fun way to pass her last few moments with Pips.

"Not at this hour" Pips shot back

"Too early?" Leanne asked all but skipping along

"Too late" Pips told her with a cool smile "breakfast time is 05:00 around here" she explained "I tried to wake you but it was no use" she lied

"Oh well" Leanne sighed as they stepped into a large elevator she had no intention of giving the woman the satisfaction of a genuine response or admitting that she was aware of her blatant lie. She understood why Pips was behaving the way she was, but Leanne had apologized to the woman once she wasn't doing it again.

The two of them travelled upwards in an uncomfortable silence until the doors opened on the thirteenth floor to reveal a smiling Steve Rogers.

"Good morning Leanne" he greeted the younger woman brightly before offering the agent a polite nod "Agent Pips"

"Morning Stevie Boy" Leanne replied falling into her old habit of nick naming pretty much everyone she encountered

"How did you sleep?" Steve asked her smiling warmly

"I didn't actually, I had too much on my mind" Leanne told him truthfully

"I'm sorry to hear that" he said sounding slightly guilty. It was clear he felt bad, he suspected that the information that he had given her had disturbed her sleep. He had no way of knowing that the file he had given her was the only thing that saved her from focusing solely on Clint and his predicament throughout the night

"Don't be" she said softly "it's not your fault, you helped to keep me sane" she reassured giving him a genuine smile that he returned without hesitation.

Pips had given up all pretence of being polite and was now blatantly eavesdropping on them from her corner of the elevator. She seemed totally shocked by their interactions

"I was surprised not to see you at breakfast" Steve stated

"Apparently I slept through my wakeup call" Leanne told him with a knowing grin.

"I would imagine that's kind of hard to do when you didn't actually sleep" Steve said raising an eyebrow

"So would I but Agent Pips insists that's what happened" Leanne sensed tension from Pips with the realisation that her deception had been uncovered but she made no comment. Steve however, looked at the agent in way that could not hide his complete disappointment before returning his full attention to Leanne

He reached into the pockets of his jacket and retrieved an apple and a pear. "I thought you might be hungry but I wasn't sure what you would like" he said holding them both out to her

"I'll take the apple" she said reaching out and taking the fruit from his outstretched hand "Thank you Stevie"

"It's just an apple" he said putting the pear back in his pocket looking bashful

"But it's better than nothing" she said repeating his words from the night before and earning herself yet another warm smile from him

Leanne was finishing her improvised breakfast as the elevator finally reached its destination, the doors opened to reveal the same roof top where she and Fury had landed the day before. Instead of a chopper there was an odd looking plane on the landing pad. "What is that?" she asked curiously

"That's your ride, It's going to take you to Fury's main base of operations" Pips answered the question without actually telling them anything they didn't already know "please follow me" she said moving to lead the way, Steve stopped her with a wave of his hand

"Miss Barton and I can manage from here thank you Agent Pips" he told her in a cool firm tone

"Yes Sir, Captain Rogers" Pips all but stuttered casting her eyes down to the floor looking like she really wanted it to open up and swallow her

Steve strode the out of the elevator without even sparing her a glance; Leanne followed him flashing the agent a small sympathetic smile as she went

"I think Agent Pips has a little crush on you Stevie Boy" Leanne mock whispered as she caught up to the captain

"The feeling is not mutual, believe me" Steve sighed.

Over breakfast he had heard dozens of rumours about how Agent Pips got her black eye and all of them involved Leanne somehow. The stories ranged from her being hysterical and getting lucky to her being a deadly marshal artist who had wiped the floor with both Pips and her partner. Whilst they were entertaining none of the tales justified Pips unprofessional behaviour towards Leanne, She was meant to be in charge of taking care of the girl not trying to starve her in some petty attempt at vengeance. It all reminded him a bit too much of the bullies that had hunted his childhood.

"She's not so bad, you know" Leanne said feeling the need to defend the other woman despite not really wanting to "her and me, we got off to a really bad start but otherwise she seems nice enough" she told him grudgingly

"We'll have to agree to disagree on that one" Steve stated leading her towards the jet that was waiting for them

As they approached a ramp was lowered at the back of their transport and a smartly dressed man alighted. He was small in stature but he gave off an aura of power that demanded respect. As Steve and Leanne got closer he removed his sunglasses and gave them the barest hint of a smile.

Leanne instantly knew who he was and she couldn't believe how happy she was to see someone she had never actually met before "You have got to be Phil Coulson" she said as she moved swiftly to his side "It's nice to finally meet the man that has saved Clint's butt so often he's lost count" she said offering him her hand

"Miss Barton, I've heard a lot about you too" Coulson said shaking her hand and smiling briefly "you look like him" the agent said thoughtfully.

Ever since they were kids Leanne and Clint had been told they looked alike, as they got older the likenesses between them seemed to become more pronounced and they heard it more and more often. Their normal response was to scoff and list all the differences between the two of them but Leanne couldn't bring herself to do that this time, not when they were so far apart and she didn't know if or when she would see him again. So she just nodded her agreement

"We are going to get him back" Her brother's handler assured her and she actually believed that he meant it

"Thank you Agent Coulson" she gave him a slightly watery but genuine smile

Her bright bubbly facade had been good while it lasted the agent thought but now it was crumbling away before his eyes. She would probably have fooled most people but not Phil Coulson. It was clear to him that Leanne wore her bright smile like a suit of armour; he had seen something very similar before, her brother often hid behind his sarcasm and wit. While the siblings may have shared coping mechanisms Clint's was firmly established, whilst Leanne' still required work, she couldn't afford to drop her guard with a few kind words

Coulson turned away from the young woman address his childhood hero and allow her to get her emotions under control.

"Captain Rogers" he greeted the Captain with a nod and a smile before shaking his hand "I'm Agent Phil Coulson" he introduced himself

"Agent Coulson" The Captain repeated looking puzzled for a moment but it soon passed and he was once again smiling politely "I've heard of you, your Fury's right hand man, right?"

"I'd like to think so but Agent Hill might disagree with me" he admitted truthfully with a slightly nervous chuckle, he was struggling to control his inner fan boy who seemed determined to escape. He was actually thankful that the pilot chose that moment to call out to him that it was time to leave.

It didn't take long for the three passengers to get on board and select a seat; Phil was pleased to note that by the time the craft had taken off Leanne had recovered her smile

Once they were safely in the air Phil produced a high spec handheld tablet from his brief case and offered it to Steve, the captain looked confused but excepted it anyway

"Director Fury wanted me to ensure you review these video files" the agent explained as he leant over and activated the computer. "He believes it is essential for you to understand the capabilities of each member of your team" he said

Steve nodded his understanding, he knew that reading about someone and seeing them in action were two very different things. He had every intention of inviting Leanne to join him in his viewing but Agent Coulson beat him to it.

"Miss Barton you are more than welcome to watch too" he offered

"Leanne, please Agent Coulson" she corrected him "And no thank you, I live in New York, I have seen both The Hulk and Iron Man in action before, not to mention that I don't think I want to know just how deadly my brothers partner really is" she said candidly explaining her refusal

Steve really couldn't stop himself from smiling at her candidness, while he tried to focus on the screen in front of him. The first two files were of Iron Man and The Black Widow, they only confirmed the deductions Steve had already made based on the written profiles. Stark whilst well tooled was nothing more than a show off. The Black Widow was as skilled and deadly as she was beautiful. He expected footage of Dr Banner to be next but instead the screen was filled with the image of man who reminded Steve very much of the young woman sitting opposite him.

"Hey, hey" he called to Coulson "how do you stop this thing?" he asked waving the tablet about. The agent simply reached over and tapped the screen to freeze the picture.

"Leanne, you want to see this" Steve insisted holding the device out to her. As much as she wanted to ignore him and just block the world out for a little while Leanne knew she couldn't, it would just feel too much like kicking a puppy.

Moving to the seat beside Steve was not as difficult as she had expected it to be considering they were flying at some speed and as soon as she saw the face on Steve's screen she was glad he had called her. Clint was staring up at them with his bow clenched in one hand and an arrow in the other. Beside his image were his name and his call sign

"Hawkeye?" she read aloud "that's his code name?" she was genuinely surprised that he had kept his stage name from the circus, she had always assumed that he had left it behind him when he left

"You didn't know that?" Coulson asked clearly confused

"No, Clint and I don't have many secrets from each other" Leanne admitted "but the things he does keep from me are all about S.H.I.E.L.D, he understands what the term classified mean's Agent Coulson and he adheres to the rules of your organisation" she informed the agent primly

Phil simply smiled at the agitated young woman and reached over her shoulder to un-pause the screen she and the captain were now sharing. She was obviously unhappy that he thought Clint would leak any information at all to her. Her attitude towards him now was positively icy compared to their earlier interaction but he had faced down a furious Black Widow before so he really wasn't scared of Barton's little sister

As Leanne watched the video of her brother in action, all of the irritation she felt towards Coulson dwindled away, now she was just thankful to the handler for keeping Clint alive.

On the screen the man known as Hawkeye was daringly jumping from roof top to roof top until he reached The Black Widow who had found herself pinned down by enemy fire. A brief and somewhat angry exchange passed between the two master assassins before they once again took up the fight. They made an amazing team, they worked together like some sort of machine each covering the other's back without ever getting in the way

As impressive as both the partners were it was Clint that held Leanne focus and it wasn't just because she was be biased or missing him. His speed and accuracy astounded her, he was getting off one well aimed arrow in the same time it took Natasha to fire two of her bullets.

"They work well together" Steve commented

"That was one of their first missions together" Coulson said with obvious pride "It was the first time she trusted him enough to let him watch her back" he admitted

"So is that from Budapest?" Leanne asked distractedly pointing to the footage still running on the screen

"What exactly do you know about Budapest Miss Barton?" Coulson asked rising his brow at her

"Not much" Leanne sighed sounding slightly exasperated "I told you Clint knows what classified means and I told you my name is Leanne"

"Well Leanne, what do you know?" Phil asked her more gently than before

"Clint just said that Budapest changed everything" she told him honestly

"Then you know as much as I do" he said returning the favour.

"Why is Barton's information in here if he's not on the team?" Steve asked pointing to the computer

"Because he was always meant to be" Phil told him "Director Fury has had information on each member of this response team on hand for a long time now because he always knew they would be needed some day. When that day came he never doubted that Barton would be an integral part of the team and I still believe he will be, we just need to get Loki out of his head" the agent affirmed

In that moment Leanne couldn't have stopped herself from liking Phil Coulson if she tried

"I can see why my brother likes you so much" she said offering him a smile of gratitude as she moved back to her original seat

"Your brother is a good agent but he is a better friend, his safe return is of the utmost importance to me" Phil revealed

"You're the first person to say that to me" Leanne said weakly, she was both shocked and touched by the agent's impassioned words

"I won't be the last" he reassured her before turning his attention back to Steve who was apparently learning all about Dr Banner and The Hulk

The rest of the journey passed quickly and uneventfully, there was one awkward moment when Phil's admiration for The Captain got away from him and he somehow managed to make himself sound a creepy stalker. Leanne couldn't help but cringe internally for him but at least Steve was nice enough to pretend not to notice.

As the jets ramp finally lowered to release them Leanne was greeted by the welcome sight of someone she had actually known for more than 24 hours. Natasha Romanoff stood waiting for them and suddenly Leanne felt like the chances of everything turning out alright had just increase exponentially

_Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think_

_Millie_


	6. Chapter 6

**To embrace the extraordinary**

**Summary:** Leanne Barton has never been what you would class as normal. She is very good at pretending she is an ordinary girl but she's not and with her big brother in danger it is time for her to stop hiding. The time has come for her to embrace the extraordinary

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own anything that you recognise. The idea is the only thing that's mine.

**AN:** Hello there everyone, I can't believe how much feedback I got on the last chapter it was amazing so thank you very much. I would also like to thank Frantazmic for all of her help and Lander for being my sounding board. Here is chapter five I hope you like it as much as I do.

**Chapter 5**

As soon as the ramp touched ground, Leanne was on the move, racing towards the woman that meant so much to her brother. Intellectually she knew it wasn't a good idea to take a run at a highly trained assassin but right at that moment she wasn't thinking intellectually.

She wasn't sure what to expect when she reached Natasha but the warm embrace she got was definitely not it.

Natasha didn't usually do hug's or comfort, if that sort of thing was called for, it fell to Clint. Normally the only reason she would hold someone close, was either to extract information from them or do them harm, hugging Leanne Barton was entirely out character, but she knew that it was the one thing the young woman was likely to need. Her partner had told her enough stories and shown her enough photos for her to know that he and his sister had a very tactile relationship. For Clint and Leanne, his arm around her shoulder was almost their default position.

Natasha had often played the role of a caring friend whilst under cover so she knew she could do whatever was required to put the girl at ease, Clint would want his sister to feel safe and welcome so she was going make sure that she did, even if it didn't exactly feel natural to her.

"Hey Kid" Natasha smiled as she pulled away from the younger woman. She knew that Kid was an endearment that Clint often used when talking to Leanne. She wasn't about to start speaking Gaelic to the girl, that might be too much for either of them to take but calling her Kid felt right

"Hey Nat" Leanne smiled nervously back. It took all of Natasha's considerable acting skills not to flinch at the sound of Clint's nick name for her coming from anyone other than him. Instead she slung an arm around the younger woman's shoulders and walked back towards Coulson and the Captain.

Phil watched as Natasha acted in a very un-Natasha like manner and did his best to suppress a chuckle as she and Leanne approached. It was clear to him that Natasha must at least like the girl but that wasn't the only reason for her odd behaviour. The forma Russian spy would do anything for her partner including play nicey nice with his little sister.

"Agent Romanoff" Coulson greeted the red head once she and Leanne approached, Natasha acknowledged him with a firm nod. "Captain Rogers" he introduced the man beside him, keeping it short and to the point

Natasha acknowledged Steve before turning her attention back to her handler "They need you on the bridge they are starting the face trace" she informed him

Phil sighed and left with only a mumbled fair well, Natasha had the feeling that he really wanted to spend some more time with the Captain but as always duty came first

"There was quite a buzz around here, finding you in the ice, I thought Coulson was going to swoon" Natasha told Steve as she led the way across the deck

"I can't believe that Clint never told me anything about you" Leanne admitted, she was genuinely impressed by her brothers restraint but she couldn't help wondering what else he hadn't told her.

Hearing Leanne's comment, Steve released a sigh of relief, it was the first time she had given any indication that she knew he was Captain America and she did it so off handily that he was sure that he wasn't in hot water for not telling her himself.

"Did Coulson ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" Natasha asked bringing his attention back to her

"Trading cards?" He chuckled

"Their vintage, he's very proud" the assassin stated in a mocking tone

A nervous looking man caught the young captain's attention and put an end to the conversation. He would have recognised the man anywhere he had just spent the last half of his flight studying both him and his alter ego. "Doctor Banner" he called out to him

"Oh, yeah, hi" the doctor replied somewhat distractedly "they told me you be coming" he said shaking Steve's hand and tossing a quick sympathetic look at Leanne. The youngest Barton was rapidly becoming sick of seeing that look, it seemed to be planted firmly on the face of everyone she met but she was not about to call Banner out on it, not with his anger issues.

"Word is you can find the cube" Steve stated as he let go of the other man's hand

"Is that the only word on me?" Banner asked glancing around him as if he was expecting to be jumped upon, at any moment. Leanne had to wonder if the doctors trust issues weren't just as big as his anger issues.

"It's the only word I care about" Steve assured him

The captain's response must have put Banner at least a little at ease because he seemed to drop his defensive edge. "Must be strange for you two, all this?" he asked them indicating to all of the modern technology and military personnel around them

Leanne nodded her agreement but Steve just gave a slight laugh "well this is actually kind of familiar" he said watching a group of solders jog past them

While the men talked Natasha had removed her arm from Leanne's shoulder and bought it to her ear; she was obviously listening to whatever someone had to say. "You might want to step inside in a minute" she told all of them in an almost sweet tone of voice "it's going to get a little hard to breath" she informed them

There was a sudden roar as somewhere an engine kicked into life and everyone on the deck began to scatter, racing either to their posts or safely inside

"Is this a submarine" Steve wondered as he observed all the action around him

"Really!" Banner gave a small hollow laugh "they want me in a submerged, pressurised, metal container". Together the two men made their way towards where the sound, emitting from the edge of the deck. Leanne hung back with Natasha as she was pretty sure she knew what was going on.

Glancing down, the Captain and the Doctor were stunned to see an enormous propeller emerging from the water beneath them. It quickly became clear, that instead of going under the water the giant carrier was lifting out of it and rising up into the sky

"Oh no, this is much worse" Banner expressed, rolling his eyes in disbelief, as he and Steve stumbled back toward Natasha and Leanne.

Inside the S.H.I.E.L.D carrier was as much of a maze as the building had been but Natasha led them thought the halls quickly and confidently, soon they reached a hive of activity that Leanne could only assume was the bridge

A huge glass wall looked out over the sea below, rows and rows of computers lined the main floor while from a platform above Fury observed.

Clint's face was staring out from many of the computers around her, those not showing him had either Loki or Dr Selvig plastered across their screens, Leanne surmised that this was what Natasha had meant by a face trace

She had to stop for a moment just to take it all in, Steve seemed equally impressed but it looked like Doctor Banner's nerves had returned and he was doing his best to find some kind of sanctuary.

A lot of people were passing information and giving orders that Leanne couldn't even begin to process let alone understand but she did clearly hear Fury say "let's vanish" and seconds later came the confirmation that the huge craft was now somehow invisible to the naked eye

"Gentlemen, Miss Barton" Fury greeted them as he moved away from his post and made his way over, he only paused a moment to take a 20 dollar bill that Steve held out to him. Leanne was impressed that he didn't seem to show even the slightest tinge of fear as he stalked right up to Bruce Banner "Doctor thank you for coming" the director said shaking his hand

"Thanks for asking nicely" the doctor returned in a tone that implied to Leanne that S.H.I.E.L.D's invite hadn't been all that nice. She heard Banner enquire how long his stay would be and Fury promise him he would be free to go as soon as he found them the cube but from there on out the conversation switched into science talk that she couldn't follow. It seemed having a basic grasp of the subject was not going to do her much good around here but that wasn't going to stop her from at least trying to be some use; she didn't think she could handle just standing around waiting for S.H.I.E.L.D's computers to find Clint or one of the others.

When Natasha was ordered to show Doctor Banner where he would be working Leanne didn't think twice about following, she just shot Steve a quick smile and hurried after the assassin and the scientist. "Could you use a hand Doc" she called out as she caught up with the two of them

"Do you know anything about gamma radiation?" he asked sounding surprised

"Only what I've read in your early papers" she admitted "But I sometime act as a lab assistant for a friend of mine, taking notes and inputting algorithms, that sort of thing so I might be some use" she persisted

Doctor Banner smiled indulgently and gave her a nod, it was clear he thought she would be no help at all but didn't want to upset her. While it was true that the subjects Leanne was actually studying (world history and English literature) were no use to her here, the subjects that her friend's were studying just might be.

Thanks to her S.H.I.E.L.D scholarship Leanne didn't need to hold down a job to live comfortably, unlike her friends so she did all she could to help them. She played lab assistant to Dominic who was studying physics, she was a sounding board for all of Lucy's design Ideas (Lucy was studying engineering) and she helped Amber prepare for her political science debates by arguing against her. Some of what she picked up from them had to come in handy sooner or later right.

The lab that Natasha led them to was as impressive as the rest of the carrier. Leanne was pretty sure Dominic would sell his sole for just one day here.

"You get started Doctor Banner" Natasha told him "I need to give Leanne a brief tour" she said before taking hold of the younger woman's arm and pulling her away

Natasha wasn't lying when she called her tour brief. It only took a matter of minutes and ended right in front of Leanne's allotted quarters. She pushed the door open expecting to find a grey military room but she was in for yet another surprise.

The room on the other side of the door was her room, there was no other way she could describe it. It was decorated in all of her favourite colures and a photo of a much younger version of her and Clint sat on the bed side table, it was taken by Zion shortly before he left the circus

"What is this?" she asked knowing the question sounded stupid but unable to stop herself from asking it

"This is your room" Natasha told her matter of factly "Clint needed to know he had a safe place to bring you, so he made one" she explained as Leanne sat down on the bed gazing at the photo in shock.

Leanne suddenly realized it was a very real possibility that Natasha knew absolutely everything about her, while she knew next to nothing about the assassin

"Just how much has Clint told you about me Nat?" she asked nervously as she cradled the photo to her chest

"I know about your past, growing up in the circus, I know you specialise in both gymnastic and knife throwing but you're only really proud of the first and I know how badly you want to be normal" Natasha said softly as she sat down next to her "I also know about your adoptive mother and what she could do, I know you can do it too but you choose not to" there was a slightly disapproving tone in her voice that instantly put Leanne on the defensive

"And you think that's wrong?" she demanded

"I think that if you have an ability that may give you an edge you are foolish not to use it" Natasha responded coolly

"Even if that ability is a curse?" Leanne asked, Natasha opened her mouth to say something but the younger woman didn't give her the chance to speak "I don't mean I perceive it as a curse" she ploughed on "I mean it actually is one, Zion's family was cursed centuries ago by the last surviving witch of an evil coven that they helped to destroy. She punished them by giving them the power to see auras and to manipulate the emotions that they found there, some of them could even see the future, being the good people they were they used their powers to help those that needed it"

"Doesn't sound like much of a curse to me Kid" Natasha commented dryly

"No, it doesn't" Leanne agreed "Until the power begins to destroy you; sooner or later everyone who has used it has withered away. In some it attacks the body in others it's the mind, in a few unlucky ones it took both. Zion lived to be 55 that's old for her family, as she had no biological children she always swore the curse would die with her" Leanne stated bitterly

"But it passed to you?" Natasha asked softly

"It didn't pass to me" Leanne laughed hollowly "She gave it to me; the day she died she said that I was different, that to me it really could be a gift, her gift to me. Her last act on this earth was to curse me" she sighed

"You're scared it will kill you that's why you choose not to use it" Natasha summed up

"That and the fact I don't actually know how to use it, Zion didn't exactly give me lessons on how to control it. For the first few weeks I had it all I could see was auras and emotions everywhere I looked, I hated it. Then one morning I woke up and it was gone, I guess I found the off switch in my sleep and I have never tried to turn it on again" Leanne explained

Natasha could understand the girl's dilemma she herself had skills she wished that she didn't but those skills had kept her alive. Leanne could deny her powers all she wanted but it was not going to make them go away, she couldn't believe that sooner or later the powers weren't going to turn themselves back on and if Leanne didn't know how to control them then there was no telling what might happen

"I think you need to find that switch" she told Leanne firmly as she got to her feet "to use your powers or not is your choice but having control over them is your responsibility" she didn't wait for an answer before marching out, she knew if Clint were here he would kick her ass (or at least try to) for treating his sister so coldly but the girl needed someone to put things into prospective and it seemed she was the only one around to do it.

Back in her room Leanne sadly realized there was a lot of truth to Natasha's words; she had heard the horror stories from Zion about how some of her ancestors had lost control and the terrible things that had happened. When she discovered she was stuck with Z's gift she had vowed never to misuse it but how could she keep that promise to herself if she had no idea how to control the power that she had locked away inside herself.

It was suddenly clear to Leanne that she needed to find the on and off switch for her abilities and to learn at least the basics of using them, short term use shouldn't do her any harm and she needed to know that she was no danger to those around her. It was also clear to her that now really wasn't the time for her to start learning new things, now was a time for working with what she had, and doing the best she could.

She rummaged through her bag for a moment and slipped on her dagger belt before she left the room to make her way back to the lab. She arrived just as Doctor Banner was finishing up his first equation

"Perfect timing" the floppy haired scientist welcomed her "You can input that for me, use the computer on the left" he said with yet another indigent smile, he was treating her like she was an over enthusiastic child that he was required to tolerate and Leanne really wanted to pull him up on it But instead she just smiled sweetly.

"Sure thing Doc" she said brightly. As her fingers flew across the keyboard, she caught the look of surprised appreciation in Doctor Banner's eyes but didn't comment.

Leanne couldn't help the relief that flooded her as she began to lose herself in the letters, numbers and symbols of each equation or algorithm the doctor gave her. For the first time since Agents Pips and Wight had turned up at her door she felt like she was being useful in the search for Clint, she just hoped he would be found safe, and soon.

**AN2:** Yay, the Avengers have landed (well some of them at least), I just wanted to warn you guy's that from here on out chapters maybe shorter or less frequent because as cool as they are the Avengers always play nice and do what I want them to_. __Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think_

_Millie_


	7. Chapter 7

**To embrace the extraordinary**

**Summary:** Leanne Barton has never been what you would class as normal. She is very good at pretending she is an ordinary girl but she's not and with her big brother in danger it is time for her to stop hiding. The time has come for her to embrace th e extraordinary

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own anything that you recognise . The idea is the only thing that's mine .

**AN: **Hey guy's, I'm back. Thank you for all the lovely feedback and sorry it has taken me so long to post but as I said in my last authors note, I don't think the Avengers necessarily wanted to cooperate with me on this one but we seem to have come to an agreement now, so I hope to crack on and finish this story soon.

**Chapter 6**

Leanne wasn't sure how long she and Dr Banner worked together in near silence. She had become so focused on the data that the troubled scientist was feeding to her that for a while nothing existed out side of it. After all of the change and turmoil of the last few days the young woman found it was a relief to lose herself in something that was familiar, even if her understanding of what she was actually doing was practically nil.

It turned out Dr Banner wasn't quite as introverted as Leanne had assumed he would be. She was actually surprised that h e was the first of them to say something that was not about the project at hand. At first he had asked her about relatively normal things like what she was studying, her college life and her friend's. Leanne was sure that the Doctor was just trying to put her at ease but she was pleasantly surprised by how easy he was to talk to and soon they had moved on to discussing what they both enjoyed doing when they weren't being cooped up (for their own safety of course) by S.H.I.E.L.D

It was safe to say that Bruce learnt much more about Leanne during their conversation than she did about him and he never mentioned the Hulk but she didn't really mind, anyone as smart as him could probably get her whole life story from S.H .I.E.L.D's computers anyway, so she may as well tell him herself. She was in the middle of telling him all about her first solo performance in the big top and how horribly wrong it had gone when a commotion in the hallway drew their attention.

S.H.I.E.L.D personnel where rushing along and yelling orders from one to another , Leanne couldn't understand all of what was being said but two words definitely caught her attention "Loki" and "sighted"

"What's going on?" she demanded catching the arm of the nearest agent. The guy didn't answer her, he didn't even have the decency to look at her he just wrenched his arm free and continued on his path .

"I guess you don't have high enough clearance to know" Bruce told her in a soft reassuring tone

"Do you think they'll tell you?" Leanne asked him hopefully

"Sorry" he said with a hollow laugh "But my clearance is probably lower than yours" coming from anyone else Leanne would have taken their words as an ill timed joke but the little she had learnt about Bruce over the last few hours led her to believe he truly meant it. "You want me to try anyway?" he offered moving towards the door with every intention of trying to get someone's attention but he was halted by Natasha appearing in the ent rance

"We have a visual on Loki" she informed them briskly "There is no sign of Clint or Dr Selvig, we're bringing Loki in, finding his hostages is our next step, you can watch from the control room if you want to but I don't recommend it, you will only feel helpless" The assassin managed to deliver her message, pass on her advice and march out for the room all in less than a minute.

Leanne rushed to the door with the intention of following her but the retreating red head was gone by the time she managed to reach the hallway. Sighing in defeat she returned to the lab and her place at the computer.

"OK so what's next" she asked Bruce in voice full of false purpose, her fingers already hovering over the keyboard.

"You where about to head up to the control room" Bruce told her gently leading h er away from the computer and back towards the door

"But Natasha said to stay here" the young woman protested

"No Natasha suggested you stay here and I am insisting you don't, I think you need to know what is going on even if it makes you feel worse than not knowing " he reasoned and Leanne was shocked at just how well he had come to know her in such a short time

"Don't you need my help?" she asked in a last ditch attempt to delay the inevitable. She knew she was going to end up in the control room sooner or later –with or without Bruce's insistence- but she had hoped she could hold out and save her self from the sickening feeling of being useless once again just for a little longer.

"I'll be fine, you go" he urged flashing her one of his slightly nervous but genuine smiles and giving her a gentle push out of the door, Leanne took the time to return his smile with a brighter one of her own before leaving.

The floating aircraft carrier was still more like a maze than anything else but Leanne had always been quick to adapt and she found she was getting lost less and less as time went by and it didn't take her long at all to find her way back to the control room. Some of the computers were still running the face trace for Clint and Dr Selvig but the majority of them were devoted to playing the live feed of Loki.

The crazy alien god had a crowd of people cowering at his feet, not one of them dared to look up him in the face let alone stand up to him. That is until he told them that humans would always bow because they were made to be ruled, his words were probably meant to seal his victory over the people before him but in truth all it did was spark rebellion among them. Slowly one man overcame his fear and rose to his feet, he was old and weathered he had been on this earth long enough to see how evil men could be and to him Loki was just like all the others that had come before him.

Leanne didn't know the man but as he stood there boldly, openly defying Loki and denouncing him as nothing more than another would be dictator she felt her heart swell with pride. Sadly it was a fleeting emotion as she became aware of how his bravery had endangered him.

"Is he in Germany?" she asked aloud, she was sure she recognised some of the architecture

"Stuttgart" A beautiful brunette that seemed to be in command confirmed

"You have to do something" Leanne gasped as it became clear to her just how far away from the brave old man they really were and Loki was levelling his staff at him.

"We have a team on the way" the woman in formed her coolly

"But Loki could kill him" the younger woman protested. She didn't understand why everyone was just sitting at their computer terminals calm as can be while a man was about to die right before their eyes

"The team is already on its way there is nothing more we can do" the woman said firmly with her arms folded over her chest.

"That's not good enough" Leanne yelled unable to control herself

"Miss Barton, calm down and take a seat" the cool woman said taking the unhappy girl by the shoulder and forcibly sitting her down at a large table. Leanne expected her to march back to her post but she didn't she stayed standing beside her and watched unflinchingly as Loki sent a blast of energy from his staff toward the one man that stood up to him.

Leanne closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable outcome, then she heard his voice, Captain America was in front of the man bracing against the blast with his shield, "How fast are those jets?" she gasped in disbelief.

"Sometimes not fast enough" the woman beside her commented sadly before turning to Leanne with a hard look in her eye "Your emotions are understandable, commendable even, but they are of no use to any one here" she said with a wave of her hand to indicate that she meant the command centre "So you control them or you leave, are we clear?" she asked firmly

"Yes" Leanne answered quickly with a nod of her head; she didn't want to know what would happen if she argued with this woman who was almost as scary as Natasha . The woman –Leanne suspected was agent Hill, Phil Coulson had mentioned her earlier- returned to her post and left the younger woman to watch in horror as Steve took on Loki alone.

Controlling her emotions had never been a strong point for Leanne but she had learnt long ago to mask them well and that was what she did now. To an outside observer she looked to be cool as a cucumber, no one could tell her heart was near to busting with fear for her new friend. Steve was impressive to say the least but he was one man against a god and things didn't look to good for him, right up until Iron man arrived. Leanne had never imagined she could be as pleased to see Tony Stark as she was in that moment; she actually had to bite her lip to keep from whooping for joy.

The end of the fight was pretty anti-climatic once Iron man and all of his fancy toys turned up Loki simply raised his hands in surrender, Leanne wanted to be happy that the fight was over, she wanted it to be enough for her that the bad guy had been caught and all of the bystanders were safe but it wasn't. Clint was s till lost somewhere in the world without control over his own mind and to make matters worse it felt like Loki was just playing with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Natasha was right she should never have come up here the whole situation left her feeling hurt and helpless. They were t he two feelings she hated the most in the world and she had been experiencing almost constantly for the last few days. She was so tired of feeling sad that the sudden rage rushing through her veins was actually a welcome change. She had been feeling flashes of anger ever since agents Pips and Wright had turned up at her door but nothing like this, she hadn't felt like this in years. Right now she was mad enough to kill; she just wished Loki was within reach.

Leanne knew she was no good to anyone when she was this mad the anger clogged up all the gears in her head and made it impossible to think straight. It was very rare for her to get this agitated, normally when it happened it was because Clint had done something stupid-like almost getting himself killed- and he was usually the only one who could calm her down but without him around a gym would have to do. Leanne was sure Natasha had mentioned one during the shortest tour in re corded history.

With the decision made to find an outlet for her agitation, Leanne quickly found the gym; she stripped off her jumper and began to stretch out as soon as the do or closed behind her. She was thankful that both her jeans and vest had enough give in them to allow her to move, she really didn't feel like working out in her underwear.

The former circus girls warm up moves quickly and smoothly gave way to her big top floor routine that was as familiar to her now as it had ever been, she didn't think she could ever forget it. She ran , rolled, flipped and sprang across the gym's wide expanse before launching herself into the air. Her movements had been likened an over exited bird before, she sent herself flipping and somersaulting in such quick succession that it appeared she was bobbing and weaving her way through the air.

With every leap and dive Leanne felt a little bit of her anger slip away and soon she was no longer running on auto pilot but thinking about and enjoying each action. Her big finale was coming up and it was always her favourite part because no one ever saw it coming, not unless they knew her and her skills well. She landed her last flip perfectly and then moving faster than most people could see, she sent one of the daggers from her waist flying right thought the heart of a target on the far wall.

As much as she had appreciated the change of emotion from sadness to anger, she was glad to be able to rid herself of it . With a small prideful smile playing on her lips she moved to retrieve her dagger from the wall, Clint's voice was once again ringing in her head. _**"You still go it kid"**_ he crowed just like he used to when they were young

Leanne was slipping her dagger back into its hiding place when the empty room was filled with the loud echo of someone clapping; she spun towards the door and found her path blocked by Director Fury for the second time in two days.

"It seems your brother may have underestimated your abilities Miss Barton" he told her as he moved further into the room

"Clint knows exactly what I am capable of director" she said with a slightly cocky grin "He just very selective about who he tells"

"Which makes me wonder, just how good are you?" Fury said clearly baiting her and despite Clint's voice in her head telling her not to she couldn't help but rise to his challenge.

One of her daggers was whistling thought the air before Fury could blink. The shining projectile lodged it's self firmly in the wall only a hair's breadth from the directors ear "I'm that good" she told him with a raised eye brow

"Everytime?" Fury questioned wrenching the dagger free and offering it back to its owner

"Everytime" she confirmed excepting the blade from him

"Care to prove that?" he asked already knowing her answer, Barton's were all the same, the pride they had in their skills was so great that they couldn't resist showing them off

"Bring it on Fury" she replied with a smirk

The director led Leanne down the hall to a room that she had seen on her tour but she didn't know what was in it because all Natasha would say about it was that it was restricted and she was not to go near it.

"This is our target range" Fury announced as he strode in ahead of her. The room was much larger than the gym and every surface was covered in shining metal, at the very far end of the room was a row of ten targets and in the middle of the floor was a giant red cross that she was obviously meant to stand on. The distance would be challenging but Leanne really wasn't worried, until Fury secured himself inside a large box in the corner that looked to be made of bullet proof glass. He gave her a hard look and a firm nod, which she assumed was his take on reassurance before he hit a red button on the wall behind him to begin her test

Leanne acted quickly and managed to hit two of the bullseyes before the range decided to up the difficulty level, as she had fully expected it to do, based on the technology displayed by all of S.H.I. E.L.D's other toys. Soon enough the targets had gone from being stationary to air born and moving around the room at an alarming rate despite this Leanne nailed another three of them.

That was when the lasers kicked in; at first they weren't really that much of a challenge they just hung in midair making a grid in front of the targets, two more targets fell victim to Leanne's daggers easily enough but the ominous sizzle that she heard when one of her blades got to close told her that the lasers were not just for show, this fact was proven when she misjudged the next shot. One of her daggers went through a laser beam instead of past it and ended up on the floor as nothing more than a mangled lump of smouldering metal. Leanne actually felt a pang of sadness at the fate of the dagger that had been with her for years but she didn't have time to focus on that, as the lasers had begun to move.

When the clearly dangerous laser beams began to make slow sweeps of the room Leanne actually considered putting an end to the test but she changed her mind when she pictured the smug look that would put on Fury's face. She ducked and rolled under the beams as they approached her and managed to get another one of the targets, and then she waited for them to have passed over her before springing up and hitting the next. There was only one more to go but of course it was time for the range to up the difficulty yet again.

The one remaining target began to rise into the air, higher and higher until there was no way Leanne was ever going to hit it from where she was and to try may cost her another one of her precious knives', it was beginning to look as though she would have to admit defeat but that changed when the ground beneath her slowly began to rise into the air too. Small sections of flooring were now floating at varying heights around the room and thankfully the lasers had stopped roaming the room, Leanne assumed it would be a simple task to spring from section to section until she was high enough to aim at the target but she was wrong.

As soon as she set foot on the first platform it fell from beneath her and she ended up sprawled out on the floor. She was going to have to move fast and aim even faster if she was going to pass Fury' s test and to make matters worse she was down to her last dagger. She wasn't sure she could do it at first but then she spotted a small ring hanging from the ceiling of the room; she was willing to bet it would take her weight.

Clamping her last blade between her teeth the young woman took a running jump at the nearest platform; she practically bounced from section to section only just making the jump each and every time. Eventually she reached the ring and thankfully her hunch about its strength was right. Hanging on to the ring with one hand while wielding the dagger with the other Leanne finally hit the last bullseye and the range began to return to normal. Full of relief Leanne let herself drop on to a passing platform and road it to the ground.

When she touched down Leanne was proud to say that while Fury didn't look impres sed he did look a little surprised. "What? you didn't think I'd make it back down?" she teased

"Didn't expect you to get up there in the first place" he admitted

"So did I pass your little test?"

"You did well enough" he said with a smirk

"Well enough for what?" Leanne asked, she suddenly got the horrible feeling she had just dropped herself in it somehow and Fury's ever growing smile did nothing to allay her fears

"Welcome to the team Miss Barton" he told her before turning sharply and walking away.

Leanne knew by "the team" he could only mean the response team he had assembled to take on Loki and suddenly she felt sick to her stomach. Of course she wanted to be helpful but she was no super hero. While her odd set of skills might mean she would never be normal, they did not mean she belonged on a team with the likes of Captain America and Iron man. "Hey , wait" she yelled after the rapidly departing director "I don't even work for S.H.I.E.L.D" she reminded him

"You do now, temporally at least" he shot back at her without even sparing her a glance "now get down to uniform and have them find you something" He ordered as he marched out of the room.

"Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into? " Leanne sighed into the empty air of the target range desperately trying to remember where Natasha had said uniform was and ignore Clint's hysterically laughter that was ringing in her head

_AN2: Hey again everyone, I really had fun writing this chapter but I am also kind of worried about it. I thought it was about time you got to see just what Leanne can do but I really don't want her to become a Mary Sue, so any and all feedback you could give me would be very much appreciated. Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think, thanks again_

_Millie_


	8. Chapter 8

**To embrace the extraordinary**

**Summary:** Leanne Barton has never been what you would class as normal. She is very good at pretending she is an ordinary girl but she's not and with her big brother in danger it is time for her to stop hiding. The time has come for her to embrace the extraordinary

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own anything that you recognise. The idea is the only thing that's mine.

**AN 1: **Hey there guy's, here I am with another chapter. I have no excuse for taking so long to update other than lack of inspiration and lots of overtime at work. I am sorry to have been gone so long and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 7**

Leanne needn't have worried about finding her way to uniform as they seemed intent on finding her instead. She had just finished gathering up her scattered daggers when a slightly plump and very enthusiastic woman in her fifties burst into the room.

"Oh darling, aren't you just lovely" she gushed as she rushed towards the shocked young woman, "Oh yes, I can work with you" she exclaimed, now circling like a hungry predator

"Who are you?" Leanne growled through clenched teeth, finding that she needed to resist the urge to pull a knife on this person who was invading her personal space with alarming speed

I'm Missy, I'm in charge of outfitting all of S.H.I.E.L.D's employees and I can't wait to get started on you" she sounded really exited now, causing Leanne even further concern, "come dear, we don't have all day" she whooped as she practically dragged Leanne from the room.

Missy led Leanne to what she called her studio; it was actually the smallest S.H.I.E.L.D room she had seen yet. Every surface was covered with equipment and bolts of fabric in every colour imaginable, hung from the walls.

"Now first things first, measurements" Missy announced standing Leanne on a tiny stool and pulling out her measuring tape. The woman chatted excitedly, as she fussed around Leanne in the tiny workspace "I know you're a gymnast so that will limit our choices when it comes to material type, but colour is entirely your choice".

"Isn't my uniform just going to be blue like all the others?" she asked in confusion as she thought back to Hill and the other staff in the control room.

"Oh sweetie" Missy laughed "of course not, you are not exactly a standard issue S.H.I.E.L.D employee so why should you get a standard issue uniform. Now you must have a favourite colour, so what is it?" she pressed.

"Purple" Leanne admitted after a moment's hesitation. Every stage outfit she had ever worn had been purple, just like Clint's. Z had insisted it was their colour and they should just accept it. After many years wearing every shade of the colour the two siblings couldn't help but form an attachment to it.

"Now isn't that funny, Purple is the colour, your brother chose too", Missy laughed.

"I thought Clint's suit was black" Leanne said obviously confused, as she thought back to the footage she had seen earlier.

"Oh it mostly is" Missy confirmed "But just had to have some purple in there somewhere, he said it would remind him of his childhood and where he came from. He went on and on about never wanting to forget what he was fighting for, all that sort of inspirational stuff" she said, now sounding slightly bored. Leanne knew she should be offended on her brother's behalf, but she could tell that the older woman truly liked Clint; she had probably just heard that kind of talk so often that she was now tired of hearing it.

"Yeah, that sounds like the kind of thing Clint would say" she agreed, suddenly feeling tearful all over again.

"Hey, hey, lady let's have none of that now" Missy scolded softly as she noticed the moisture in the girls eyes, "that man is one of the strongest I have ever met and I have been around the block a time or two" she said with a wink that brought a wistful smile to Leanne's face.

Leanne suddenly realized just how rude she had been, she hadn't even introduced herself to the woman who was only trying to help her, "How do you know so much about me? Did Fury tell you?" she asked dabbing at her tears with the tissue, the older woman now handed to her.

"All that the director said was that Clint Barton's sister needed a uniform", "Clint told me the rest, he's been telling me about you for years. At every fitting I would learn something new, I have never known a man to talk about his sister the way he talks about you, he adores you kid and he will do everything in his power to get through this and come back to you" the designer said firmly, "I don't doubt him for a moment and neither should you" she finished with a soft smile.

It didn't take Leanne and Missy long to decide on the material and style for Leanne's uniform. The material was specifically designed to give her some protection from blades and blunt force trauma while still allowing her to move freely. The colour was a rich deep purple almost the exact same shade as her first ever circus costume, the reminder of her past made her smile.

Shortly after Missy set about her work, they were joined by a smartly dressed man, he looked to be about twenty years younger than Missy but he was just as overly enthusiastic.

"Leanne this is Gizmo, he is our gadget man and he has some toys just for you" Missy said brightly, obviously hoping that she could lift Leanne's spirits a little.

"I must say Miss Barton your skills presented me with an interesting challenge but I do believe I rose to it" Gizmo beamed as he presented her with a huge case. Inside there were rows and rows of knives and daggers in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

"Wow" Leanne breathed as she ran her fingers across the gleaming handles, "they are beautiful but there is no way I can carry all of them at once" she pointed out.

"That's where these come in" Gizmo practically crowed as he presented her with a pair of black knee high, low heeled boots and hip holsters. "The boots are my own design", he told her proudly. "There are small pockets built into them, you would be amazed at how many knives each can hold without weighing down your legs, the holsters are for the longer heavier blades" he said. "I also have these for you" he added as he produced a pair of gloves and a utility belt. "The gloves have a special gripping technology built into the palms, once you get hold of something they will not release until you make the conscious decision to do so" he explained.

"So what you're telling me is that these gloves can read my mind?" Leanne asked in surprise.

"That's not exactly how they work, but its close enough" Gizmo grinned at her, "the boots have the same technology on the soles. I know if you're anything like your brother then you are proud of your skills, and would be happy to rely on them entirely, but you will need all of the help you can get and I'm here to make sure that you get it" he said in a rush, obviously expecting her to turn down the gadgets that he was offering her.

"Thank you Gizmo" Leanne said as she took the gloves from him. "What's in the belt?" she asked casting a glace over the many pouches and pockets that were built into it.

"Oh that is where the real fun begins" he said grinning even more brightly than before, he then proceeded to open every pocket and show her what they held. There were mini bombs, smoke screens, tracking units, and many other useful devices, they were all small enough to fit into her palm and designed to be thrown in the same way that she used her daggers. Gizmo explained to her how each one worked and the scenarios where they should or shouldn't be used.

"Thank you again Gizmo but seen as S.H.I.E.L.D has Loki in custody I'm hoping I won't need any of these" Leanne said meaning every word.

"We know sweetie" said Missy looking up from Leanne's uniform for the first time since she had introduced her and Gizmo. "But we just want to make sure that you're prepared, just in case" she said soothingly. "Speaking of which, what are you going to call yourself?" she enquired.

"I don't know I hadn't really thought about it" Leanne admitted.

"Well you better think fast honey because I'm going to be done here soon"

"You two are really determined to turn me into a super hero aren't you?" Leanne laughed, more to allow her time to think than anything else.

"Not us, director Fury" Gizmo corrected her. "We're just in charge of providing you with anything you might need" he assured her. "The only thing we can't give you is a name; you have to come up with that yourself".

Leanne thought for a moment but she already knew that truthfully there was only one name she would ever chose, Clint had bought his circus alias with him and she would do the same. "The Sparrow" she whispered "I'll go by The Sparrow".

"Hawkeye and The Sparrow, I like it" Missy commented, "and it gives me the perfect finishing touch for your suit".

"And I have a mask to make" Gizmo added.

"A mask?" Leanne asked him.

"Yes a mask" he confirmed. "What's the point of having a super hero identity if you aren't going to hide who you really are?"

Leanne couldn't deny the logic behind Gizmo's words. "I guess I'll just sit here and wait then" she said setting herself down on Missy's measuring stool.

"You will do no such thing" Missy said leaving her machine for the first time since she had started work on Leanne's uniform. "You look exhausted" she said taking the younger woman by the arm and leading her towards an overstuffed chair that sat in the corner of the room. "Rest here and at least try to sleep" she ordered gently. "We'll wake you as soon as we are finished" she promised as she covered Leanne with a thick blanket.

With everything that was going on around her Leanne would never have believed she could fall sleep. She only really lay down because she didn't think Missy would allow her off the chair until she and Gizmo were finished anyway, but as soon as she was snuggled under the blanket she found her eyes slipping closed without her permission.

Considering she had gone two days without sleep Leanne assumed that when she did surrender to slumber her sleep would be dreamless, but she was pleasantly surprised to find herself falling into a warm, comforting dream world.

She was back in her apartment in New York but she wasn't alone, Clint was with her. It took a moment for her sleepy brain to catch on that her dream wasn't really a dream but a memory.

Clint was showing her around her new home, he was paying particular attention to the safety upgrades that he had added himself. The locks on her door could not be picked he informed her proudly. There were also daggers hidden in random places around the room should she need them, but he made it clear that pulling a weapon was to be her absolute last resort.

The last precaution he gave her was the one he actually wanted her to use should she ever come under attack. "This is your go bag" he told her holding up a large black back pack. "And this is where it belongs" he said putting it on a hook beside her window. He went on to explain about what was in the bag and how to make the best use of it. Leanne felt so overwhelmed by all of the laws Clint was laying down, that if she didn't laugh she would cry, so that is what she did. Right there on her nice new sofa she dissolved into hysterical giggles.

"You think this is funny Kid?" her older brother demanded clearly angered by her reaction

"No, no" she denied fighting to get her giggles under control. "I just find it hard to believe that you think I can handle this" she said finally sobering as the seriousness of her situation finally hit her.

Her beloved big brother was a man with enemies. He had acquired a lot of them in his current role as an agent for S.H.I.E.L.D but there were also some from his days as an assassin for hire. There were plenty of people out there that held grudges against him, and they would stop at nothing to get their revenge. If killing his little sister was the only option open to them they would gladly take it. While she had been living with the circus and constantly on the move she had been relatively safe, but now she was settling down, she was about to become a sitting duck. If any of Clint's many enemies found her, she was as good as dead, unless she could keep herself safe long enough for him to ride to her rescue.

All of Clint's anger seemed to vanish in the face of her admission "You listen to me" he told the scared young woman firmly. "You are stronger than you think" he said sitting down beside her. "You can do this Lee" he whispered wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"What if I can't?" she worried, settling her head so it rested on his chest.

"You can, I know you can deirfiú" he said reassuringly, she knew he was using Gaelic to try and make her feel better, and she had to admit it was working. "You can do so much more than think you can, you always could" Clint told her with complete confidence in his voice. "You have always had good instincts trust them and follow my rules, you'll be just fine" he promised.

"And what happens if my instincts go against your rules?" Leanne asked.

Clint paused for a moment obviously giving her question some real thought "Then you go with your gut" He finally decided. "I believe in you Leanne, never forget that" he said pressing a kiss to her temple

Her brothers encouraging words were the last thing Leanne heard before the waking world came rushing back to her and she was once again with Missy and Gizmo in the studio. As she awoke she found she was filled with a confidence she hadn't had before and she could only put it down to Clint. Ever when he wasn't really with her, his words gave her all the comfort and strength she could ever need.

"Oh good your awake" Missy smiled at her "I'm all finished and Gizmo should be done by the time your dressed" I took Leanne a moment to process what Missy had said, but her sleepy state passed quickly.

Leanne was pleasantly surprised that she actually felt really well rested after her little nap. She was also surprised at how nicely her uniform had turned out. The purple cat suit was very simple; the only embellishment was Missy's finishing touch, which was a silver sparrow in flight that she had embroidered so it sat just above the girl's heart. When paired up with all the black assessors Gizmo had given her the outfit looked stylish and smart, but more importantly she could move freely in it, Missy made her prove this by doing a couple of back flips before she would even allow her out of the dressing room.

The mask that Gizmo handed her as exited was lovely, it was silver and shaped like a pair of wings; it covered her nose and most of her upper face it was also far more comfortable that she had expected it to be. There was a single purple jewel set into the mask just beside her right eye. Gismo gleefully told her that if she pressed that button thin lenses would cover the mask's eye wholes; these lenses gave her access to infer red vision should she need it.

"How did you guys do all of this I haven't even been here an hour?" she asked them as Missy was plating her hair for her.

"Oh trust me honey we have worked on much tighter schedules than this" Missy assured her twisting the braided hair into a bun and out of the way.

The last gadget that Gizmo had for her was an ear bud that connected her to the rest of the team, just like everything else Gizmo had given her the commucater was comfortable and easy to use. She just had to apply presser to activate it and do the same again to turn it off; Leanne was pleased to say she got it to work on her very first try. She tapped her ear and Natasha's voice filled her head announcing that they were nearly back at base with Loki still in custody.

The newest member of the response team quickly disconnected her com hoping none of the others realized it had been activated. "There back and I have to go" she told the two designers as she hurried towards the door "Thanks again for everything" she called, clipping her mask to her belt as she left the room. She had every intention of meeting the others in the control room –she was sure that was where they would be- but first she was going to stop in and collect Bruce. She assumed he would be summoned anyway but she was going to make sure he was in attendance, he deserved to be there plus she wanted as many friendly faces around as she could get when she made her first appearance as The Sparrow.

**AN 2:** I know that most of this chapter is made up of OC's but I hope you still enjoyed it as it was actually a lot of fun to write.

_Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think_

_Millie_


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